Back Bails are not failsafe
D. Murali
ON www.channelnewsasia.com a top story reads, "Indian PM rehires minister dismissed over mob killings." India's `clogged legal system' where `cases can drag on for years' has granted the out-in Minister bail, it adds.
It seems Singh is not saying Soren is mine, by symbolically divesting the JMM chief of mines, though to align with the tainted theme of the Opposition, the Department entrusted to him is literally black. Those who've played Minesweeper game may realise that Singh has new mines to sweep.
Isn't the Cabinet like a stage where all Ministers are merely players, having their exits and their entrances, and "one man in his time plays many parts," with due acknowledgement to the Bard? Should `bail' be a concern to us, as in cricket pitches, where batsmen have their arrivals and departures? I guess, no, because the game must go on, only the scene changes, even as justice is still a long way away. There's little difference: When bail is denied, the man is in custody; else, a Department is in custody.
Bail is a sum of money deposited for getting an accused person's temporary release from custody and to guarantee that person's appearance in court at a later date. If the person fails to appear in court on the date set, the money is forfeited. Bail's origins lie in Old French, `temporary custody,' which in turn is from Latin bajulus, that is, `somebody who carries responsibility' or a porter. Has Shibu ported a whole new problem onto Singh?
To bail is to empty water from a sinking boat, so a bail can bail out somebody in soup. For instance, a sensational case that is currently searing the media is about desperate efforts by a seer to get bail.
Just as alleged murderers can get into gridlock of politics when out on bail, so too people get into wedlock during temporary let off. If you are tracking Telgi's case, you'd have read how, a couple of days ago, when the cops had to produce the accused before the court, they didn't. Reason: they were busy with a city VIP whose son was getting married. No bail was granted, and the judicial custody of all the accused in the fake stamp-paper scam was extended till December 18, after the police expressed inability to provide adequate security to the accused at the special court because the entire force was tied up with the visit of the Vice-President to Pune.
"You will not bail me, then, sir?" sounds like a faint plea before the court, but that's a line from Measure For Measure. Similarly, the line, "When that fell arrest without all bail shall carry me away," from a sonnet of Shakespeare may ever be current. Bails are not failsafe. For instance, from Lalu's own country, there are reports that Pappu Yadav got bail from the Patna High Court and then illegally entered Beur jail at night because his chums were throwing a big party to celebrate his release!
Tails wag in jails, bails or no bails.
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu Business Line