A Nation reluctant to punish VIPs and Celebrities

Why are we so reluctant to punish the VIPs and celebrities even if they are guilty? Mr. Katju seems to be in a hurry to get pardon for Sanjay. As a former justice and chief of PCI he should be more concerned about the plight of the common man. Sanjay has been given four weeks' time and he can file a review petition. So why Mr. Katzu is in such a hurry? What baffles me completely is his attempt to compare Sanjay's case with that of Nanavati. Nanavati was a naval commander and his case was completely different. It was a family affair and involved the fidelity of his wife and betrayal of a close friend. He was initially acquitted by the jury. Incidentally that was the last jury trial in this country. He was very close to the Nehru family and Vijayalakshmi Pandit was the Governor of Maharashtra. Even then the pardon was granted only after 3 years. Mr. Katju wants the pardon even before the legal process is over! Mr. Katju has also highlighted the good work done by Sunil Dutt and Nargis. What has the charitable work done by Sanjay's parents got to do with his case? Should the children of good parents not be punished even if they are guilty of serious offense? What is most ridiculous and also preposterous is the argument that Sanjay has promoted Gandhigiri through his film. First of all the idea of the film belongs to the film maker and not the lead actor. Sanjay also played the role of Kahlnayak and what is Mr. Katju's opinion on that? Katju is projecting as if the Supreme Court had no choice but to sentence Sanjay and it did so reluctantly. The Supreme Court has taken into consideration his sufferings over the last 20 years and the charitable work that he has been doing. That is why it has reduced the sentence from 6 to 5 years. But at the same time it has pointed out clearly that his offence is very serious. The pardon should be granted only in rare cases like that of Nanavati. Katju is perhaps utilising this opportunity to prove his allegiance to the congress or worse still congress leadership is using Katju to build a case for Sanjay. It has become a practice to release netas and their followers through a pardon on 15th August. As it is, such people don't get convicted. When they get convicted they should serve the complete sentence. Pardon should be genuine and judiciously used. It should not become another means to bypass the law. Can we imagine someone like Rajat Gupta getting convicted for insider trading in India where insider trading is rampant? Is Sanjay's contribution to the society more than that of Rajat? There was no such hue and cry when he was sentenced in the USA. That is democracy; no one is above the law! Raju has also done a lot for the society and the IT industry. He was a visionary leader who had class and wanted to follow global standard in everything he did. His contribution to the success of 108 is immense. It was his brain child. But at the same time the fraud he committed was huge. The money involved was a pittance compared to the loot of our netas, but what is more significant is that his act seriously affected the career and health of thousands of employees and their family members who had trusted him. He should also be punished according to the law of the land. Let us all respect the law and the decision of the SC in letter and spirit. Just because there is a provision in our constitution, it should not be used indiscriminately. The founders of the constitution couldn't have imagined the office of the President or the Governors will one day be occupied by politicians who will misuse such privileges. By the way, I may not be exactly a fan of Sanjay, but I like some of his movies. Apart from Munnabhai series he was good in some of the comedy movies like Jodi No.1. One feels sorry for him but the law should prevail. Let him approach the Governor for pardon as per the process. The pre-emptive attempt by a handful of influential individuals is not a good sign for our democracy. If the govt. is interested to know the popular sentiment they should have a referendum. Looking at it a little differently justice Katju could be actually making things difficult for Sanjay as far as public sentiment is concerned by using such frivolous and ridiculous defence. The argument he has already suffered for 20 years is not a valid argument. That is applicable to all other accused as well. On the contrary one can say that justice delayed is justice denied. If Sanjay has suffered a lot in the last 20 years what can be said about millions of people who don't get 2 square meals a day in this country! He has been behind the bars for 18 months and that is it as far as suffering is concerned from a legal standpoint. Update on 24th March: I had no inclination to add anything more to it as there are so many highly dangerous criminals even in our parliament. Sanjay is definitely better than most of them. So whatever happens will happen for the good. However, Katju gives a new definition to height of ridiculousness everyday. Today I heard him saying in one news channel that Sanjay has suffered a lot in the last 20 years and one example he gave was Sanjay was not able to apply for a bank loan. Lack of a bank loan is a great suffering for Sanjay! Surely you are joking justice Katju, which you should refrain from doing on such a serious issue.