Date:01/09/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/01/stories/2007090155871004.htm

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Equality before law?

A sessions court in Madhya Pradesh acquitted a lower division clerk charged with taking a bribe of Rs.200 but the High Court found him guilty and sentenced him to four months in prison. Although the official died while the case was on, his widow appealed to the Supreme Court for setting aside the conviction so that she could get retirement benefits. But the court, upholding the High Court verdict, ruled that the scapegoat plea will not hold in cases involving bribery.

And we have the case of RJD Lok Sabha member Rajesh Kumar Manjhi, whose wife complained that he was misusing the railway pass meant for his spouse to take another woman along with him even on his official tours.

A parliamentary committee recommended that he be suspended for 30 sittings and that he should be restrained from taking his spouse on official tours for the remaining duration of the 14th Lok Sabha. The two cases leave the people wondering if everyone is indeed equal before the law in our country.

A. Balu,

Chennai

Mr. Manjhi’s act is yet another shocking instance of misdemeanour by our ‘honourable’ MPs. The issue once again highlights the need for political parties to select candidates in a responsible and transparent manner.

The committee’s observation that Mr. Manjhi’s acts were tantamount to cheating and impersonating which are penal offences is significant.

J. Anantha Padmanabhan,

Srirangam