Skip to content Skip to navigation

Lock down or lock up! Brimful misery for commoners

New Delhi: The nation wide lock down is more a reign of terror and less a measure to keep a virus at bay if a section of the observation of a country's legal fraternity is to be believed.

Be it in the case of police excess or the absence of essential commodities, the 21 days Pan India lock down seems to have been crushing the spine of millions of the people living in abject penury across the nation life never before. 

The worse has yet to come. This has forced a New Delhi based lawyer to write to the Chief Justice of India for immediate intervention before the situation goes from bad to worse.

Here is the letter of Gaurav Jain,  the lawyer, who has been relentlessly confronting with a set of  "anti people" policies, for the last couple of years. 

Gaurav Jain, lawyer
Gaurav Jain, lawyer 

---------------------------

To,
The Hon'ble Chief Justice of India,

I am Gaurav Jain, an Advocate enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi. And as an officer of the court, I consider it my duty to bring to your notice a grave Injustice happening at this very moment on such a massive scale that if left unchecked, it will grow so big and scary, that it will be extremely difficult to contain it later. It's only the 3rd day of the pan-India Lockdown and if we do not act now, more people will succumb to this evil than Corona Virus in the remaining 18 days.

The evil I am talking about is : Police Brutality.
In their over-enthusiasm to strictly enforce the "janta-curfew" and now pan-India Lock-down, police officers, of almost all states and UTs, are mercilessly beating people they find on the road without first asking - even once - the reason why they had to step out of their homes.

Many people, involved in the essential services have to bear the brunt of this callousness and heavy-handedness of the police. It so happens that most of these people are from the lower-middle class and the class below it.

Agreed that the lock-down has been declared by the PM to take on the COVID-19 Pandemic and it's important that everyone cooperates for it to succeed but that does not give Police the license to resort to such barbaric cruelty and unleash such shocking violence on people who may have very genuine and pressing reasons to be out.

By swinging its Lathi before even hearing the other person, the police may succeed in enforcing this lock-down but it will also succeed in demolishing the Rule of Law, the Principles of Natural Justice and people's fundamental right to live with dignity. I don't think you can ever let this happen.

And here's a basic question: what's the point of publicly beating, even killing, someone to 'save' him from Corona Virus? Reports are surfacing that a person from West Bengal has died after allegedly getting beaten up by the police. His crime : Stepping out of house to buy milk.

Hundreds of videos which are mushrooming on social media demonstrate the blood-curdling brutality of police being unleashed on ordinary people all over India. The intensity and scale of this violence is shocking, which cannot truly be described in words. And that's why I thought it wise to attach a small sample of videos with this mail so that you can see it yourself. (please find annexed Six Twitter video links)

What will truly shock the conscience of the court - it did shock mine - is the fearlessness and utter nonchalance with which these police officers are going about thrashing people. To do so in these times and age when there is a camera in every person's hand, one really needs to be completely convinced that there would be absolutely no consequence to one's actions.

While I certainly don't want a coward police force, I definitely want this much fear in their hearts that they know that if they commit a crime and that crime is captured on camera, they WILL have to face severe consequences; more severe than an ordinary person.

This 'virus' of violence has infected virtually all police forces across India, and the officers deployed on the ground are in 'serious condition'. There is a need to immediately sensitize them on what role they have to play as a responsible public servant, before they lose all perspective and cause irreparable loss of human-lives and state's credibility.

Therefore, I would request you to take suo-motu cognizance of this extremely critical matter. You are humbly requested to urgently issue strict orders/directions to the Home Minister of India, all Chief-Ministers and the DGPs/CPs of Police Forces of all the States/UTs to warn their officers on ground to immediately cease and desist from unnecessarily beating people in the streets and resorting to any cruelty during this lockdown period. They should also be sensitized about their role and explained the importance of kindness and empathy.

Sure, sometimes police is constrained to use force/violence but if found involved in any incident of brutality or unprovoked/disproportionate use of force, the officer will have to face steep financial as well penal consequences. I leave it to the wisdom of Your Honour to include things in the order so that a strong deterrence can be created for these errant officers who see a global emergency as an opportunity to unleash their evil side of personality.

So far, our judiciary has led India's fight against coronaVirus. And therefore I am extremely hopeful that you will, once again, come to the rescue of millions of innocent poor and middle class people who are not only up against a deadly virus but a brutally violent police force. Usually police is their first line of defense. But in this case, you are their first and probably the last hope.

Cordially,
Gaurav Jain
 

Comments

Dr Krishna K Prasad's picture

Yes, it is happening, but will such a ruling by SC really work in the present pendamic situation and too amidst the present arena of unprecedented unique sort of power game ?

Pages

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

Two more wild elephants died in Nagaon and Udalguri districts on Tuesday.The first incident took place when a three-year-old male calf died after it slipped into a deep drain in Amsoi Tea Estate after getting separated from its herd. A male adult jumbo was electrocuted at Nalapara in the Borangajuli revenue circle in the Indo-Bhutan area. The elephant, which had come out of Bornadi Wildlife Sanctuary on the foothills of Himalayas, died after it came in contact with high-tension wires.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is organizing a day long outreach seminar to sensitize stakeholders on various provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA).The seminar will be held on Friday. The venue is ITA Pragjyoti Auditorium, MG Road, Machkhowa, Guwahati.The Ministry of Home Affairs has invited different organisations for the seminar and the details of the programme about the seminar are available on the official website of Ministry.
A high level meeting in Dispur on Monday is set to discuss a slew of measures to effectively deal with the anomalies in eggs, fish and chicken pricing.To be presided over by Chief secretary PP Verma, the meeting would be attended by the finance secretary HS Das who unearthed the anomalies. Das in his letter to Verma revealed that fish, eggs procured in water price with the help of the government are being sold in exorbitant prices in the markets. He said that an egg is procured for Rs 1.04 is sold for Rs 4.50 in the open market. Same it is in the case of the Andhra Pradesh fish which is available for Rs 20 per kg to be sold at Rs 200 in the market.   
An uneasy situation prevails in Mancachar where an indefinite curfew is in force. The curfew was clamped from Sunday evening following clashes in which two policemen were injured a police vehicle was set on fire.Trouble brewed when people from Garo Hills, Meghalaya, crossed the Kanu river and came to Mancachar for shopping. Then a section of the local residents beat up some of them. In retaliation, when people from Mancachar went to Monabari, Meghalaya, they were beaten up. Tension started escalating further on Sunday when a body was found floating on Kanu river.
The All Assam Students Union refuses to call off its sit –in at the SEBA office premises. The decision was confirmed on Sunday after the crucial meeting with education minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma failed on the removal of chairman Shantikam Hazarika. Dr Sarma said that Hazarika can’t be removed without the recommendation of the panel probing the anomalies in SEBA. Then AASU leaders decided to continue the protest even after secretary Dayaram Rajbanshi resigned.    
Flood waters continue to wreak havoc in Kaziranga. The world heritage site which is an abode of two-thirds of world's one-horned rhinoceros population, is also partially flooded and many animals have been forced to take shelter on the highlands. Rhino habitats are flooded to force the trapped animals to shift to the safer places in the nearby hills. The Park authorities are on alert to protect the wildlife from deluge and poachers by undertaking day-night vigil and patrolling on boats through the flooded park.
The overall flood situation remains critical. Amid alert 11 districts are reeling under floodwaters.  The Brahmaputra and its tributaries are flowing over the danger mark after the torrential rains lashed the state for several hours. This wave has left over one lakh people homeless. Downpour in the catchment areas of Arunachal Pradesh has resulted in the swelling water level in Jiadhol to trap Dhemaji district where over 100 villages are under flood. Tinsukia, Chirang, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup, Karimganj, Lakhimpur, Morigaon are the other flood-hit districts.
Anup Chetia is expected to be extradited this week. The ULFA top leader is expected to arrive in New Delhi on July 16---two days ahead of the home secretary level bilateral talks slated for July 18. An Assam police team is prepared to leave for the national capital to take Chetia on their remand in view of a number of pending cases.The pro talk ULFA leaders are also set to leave for New Delhi to discuss the status of the peace process with the Centre. Chetia was arrested in Bangladesh in 1997 and was subsequently handed down seven years of jail term by a court for cross-border intrusion, carrying fake passports and illegally keeping foreign currencies.
A heavy to heaviest rain and thunder is likely to lash Assam during the next 48 hours forcing the government to be prepared for itFive districts are on alert in view of the impending downpour. According to Indian Meteorological Department, 488 MM rainfall in Sonitpurs, Lakhimpur, Golaghat and Barpeta districts by the next 48 hours. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi who is back in Guwahati has instructed the water resources department to be well prepared to deal with the crisis. He directed the district administrations to evacuate the people from the river banks.
AGP receives yet another blow on Tuesday when the party’s one of the founder leader Atul Bora deserted Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.The former minister Bora rushed to the party headquarters on Tuesday and handed his resignation letter to the party president through vice president Joseph Toppo.In all probability, Bora is set to join the BJP on Wednesday in presence of Rajnath Singh which will be on a two days tour to the state.