BENGALURU: India, a country known for its rich cultural heritage has had many controversial and yet interesting court cases in the recent past. The cases mentioned in this article highlight the flaws in our system and which has led to further corruption, reports Topyaps.
INA Trials
In 1942 the Indian National Army formed and led by Subash Chandra Bose, was built on the aim of acquiring independence to India with the help of Japan. This helped Bose shake the British a little, but not for long, until the British passed charges of Disobedience, revolt and Sedition.
The INA trials also referred to as Red Fort trials which was held at Red Fort in Delhi on November 1945 has been among the most rarest and controversial cases passed. This was because of the fact that during these trials, there was a lot of public outrage and the Tricolor flag of the Congress and the Green Flag of the Muslim League waved protested against the charges. There were about 10 trials held from November 1945 to Ma 1946. All trials were conducted at the Red Fort because the first court Martial was held there.
Jessica Lal Murder Case
On April 30, 1999, a 34 year-old Delhi based model, Jessica was shot dead for not selling beer after 12:30 am. She worked as a celebrity at a bar in Mehrauli and approximately 1:30 am, Manu Sharma, son of Vinod Sharma, influential Congress Leader, approached her for a bottle of beer. Jessica refused to give him anything, making her follow the rules of the court of not selling liquor after 12:30 am. It is said that there were arguments between Manu and Jessica for about half an hour and even offered her
1000, which she denied. Furious and Frustrated Manu took out his pistol and shot her twice. Manu has now been sentenced for life imprisonment on 20 December, 2006.The Shah Bano Case
Shah Bano, a 62 year-old women and a mother of five, was divorced by her husband in 1978, approached the Supreme Court for maintenance. The Court passed its judgment in favour of Shah Bano, stating that she has to be given maintenance money every month. However, the Muslim community opposed the decision as it went against the Sharia laws.
As a result the Congress Government passed the Muslim Women Act, 1986 which denied any kind of maintenance money to any Muslim women after divorce. Shah Bano fell a prey to immoral politics.
Ayodhya Case
One of the most shocking and devastating incidents that took place in Indian history, was that of Ayodhya.
It all started on 6 December, 1992 when some Hindu activists demolished Babri Mosque, for they strongly believed that was the place where Lord Rama was born and that a temple existed before the Mosque was built. This act led to religious fights between the Hindus and Muslims and at the same time the Supreme Court had to act quickly and judiciously towards this sensitive problem. The case grew more sensitive while the judgment took 18 years to come.
The Court passed an order that the 2.77 acres land be split into 3 parts of which one third will go to the Hindu Mahasabha to build Ram temple, another one third to build to Sunni Waqf Board and the remaining one third to be passed to Nirmohi Akhara, a Hindu religious group. This is said to be one of the most controversial cases in Indian History.
Lal Bihari Identity Case
Lal Bihari, a young farmer from Uttar Pradesh was considered dead according to government records. He gets to know about his loss of identity when he seeks for loan from a bank. He later held his cousin captive for stealing his property, appealed for granting widow’s pension to his wife when tried to enter into Parliament.
Despite everything done to regain his identity, he got back his identity after 18 years of struggle. He not only got his identity back but also his property.
2G Spectrum Case
This case is listed top under the category of abuse of power. The Bureaucrats or the guardians of the law themselves broke laws and conceptualized India as a corrupted Nation. Some Government bureaucrats distributed frequency licenses to mobile phone companies to provide 2G data to their customer. The CBI investigation into this controversial matter has probed that there was a loss of
309845.5 Million.The Supreme Court later passed an order that the allotment of 2G spectrums were unconstitutional and arbitrary. However, the prime accused in the scam was the Minister of Communication and I.T.
Satyam Scam
Satyam Computer Services, a leading IT company shattered the truth of it cheating its shareholders and investors belief and serenity in it. On 7 January, 2009, Ramalinga Raju resigned from his post confessing that he had manipulated accounts and cheated investors by stating that Satyam Company has
14000 crores. Later Tech Mahindra took over Satyam and renamed to ‘Mahindra Satyam’.Land Acquisition in Uttar Pradesh
The Uttar Pradesh Government is said to have played dirty politics in the name of development. The U.P. Govt. had secured agricultural lands from the farmers of many villages at cheap prices and showed them fake blue prints of developing their village. The encroached land was instead sold to builders.
The Supreme Court passed a judgment that the matter was ‘sheer fraud’ and concluded by saying that land acquired for one purpose cannot be used for the other. Instead the U.P. Govt was asked to increase the level of compensation to be paid for the land acquired.
Chandrashekhar Prasad Murder Case
On 31 March, 1997, Prasad an enthusiastic young political leader of the Communist party of India liberation was shot dead in Siwan district, Bihar when he was addressing a rally held by his party. Three shooters were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment after 15 year long hearing.
K.M. Nanavati versus Bombay High Court, 1959
One of the rarest case in Indian history was that of Nanavati, a naval commander was convicted for killing his wife’s lover, Prem Ahuja. This Case created media hype and gathered more public attention. After a few hearings, he was declared not guilty, while the Bombay High court interfered into the decision, making him stand for a few more hearings. He was later re-declared as being guilty for the murder of Prem Ahuja. However, this case highlights the fact that the jury is also bound by societal beliefs and norms. But as off now, jury trials are no more in existence.
(Courtesy)
Comments