The Legal Rights Dilemma

Should Kasab get a Lawyer?

This debate has been raging on almost anywhere and everywhere I go. And it is not just since Anjali Waghmare was appointed as Kasab's Lawyer, even before that, many lawyers had said they wouldn't take up Kasab's case.

I was watching the news last night with my family and was just thinking, should a woman be targetted for simply doing her job?? That I mean for Anjali Waghmare. Shiv Sena is nothing but a bunch of morons who have got their nationalistic ideals all wrong.

But what has happened to us? Why do we agree to the no-lawyer-for-Kasab stand?

If my personal opinion is asked, I think Kasab deserves the right to a fair trial, even though he has confessed to his crime and it is almost certain that he would be awarded nothing less than the gallows. Why do people think that he should not get a lawyer and he should simply be hanged directly?

Tell me, have you not heard of Naxals or even murderous terrorists laying their arms vountarily, and some of them being reformed? I am not saying reform Kasab. If he showed any kind of genuine remorse, I would still think it would have been a good idea to do so.... on paper. But in reality, no we will not let him be reformed even if he wanted to, coz he was among the many terrorists who carried out a heinous crime. Fair enough.

My point is NOT about reforming here. My point is, every person deserves a right to fair trial, no matter how brutal his crime is. There is a system in civilised society (if we can call ourselves that) and it needs to be followed in executing justice. Yes, I agree it will take a lot of court's time and money, which can be better utilised in solving other cases pending since god knows when.

Not to mention the media circus it would create. Someone mentioned on a news channel that media should not hype it so much and create a circus out of it, and Kasab should be publicly lynched. Now, that would not generate any kind of hype, isnt it??

I might be naive in saying so that not everyone is born a criminal. Circumstances compel them to take dangerously wrong paths, but that does not absolve them of their crimes. They need to pay a price for the crime they committed and for that, a proper system is the need of the hour. The rule of the mob isn't such a great idea. If we let them do it once, we open the door for such things to happen again.

A defence lawyer, in such a case, might best try to reduce the quantum of the sentence. Even she realises that it is already a lost battle, and yet she should do her duty. There is hardly any chance of Kasab getting anything less than a death sentence. But the sentence should be imparted in the way it is meant to be. 

Didn't we do that during the 1993 blasts? Weren't all the perpetrators caught and evidence collected against them? Wasn't there a proper trial then? Did they not have a defence lawyer?

Then why the exception for Kasab when you know he will be given nothing less than death?

Why attack an innocent lawyer for doing what the highest authority, the legal system, in your country has asked her to do?

Do you think a doctor will refrain from doing his duty, if he sees a patient with blood oozing out of every single location of his body? He knows the patient WILL not survive, but he will still give him the basic first aid.

I am not defending Kasab here. I think he deserves nothing less than a death penalty. But it should be in accordance with the legal system in the country. Yes, someone mentioned about Md.Afzal, the parliament attack conspirator,  and how he still has not been hanged.

I would jsut say that politics is such a sham in our country. They use terrorists on their agenda to degrade the other parties. But still, I would like Kasab properly tried in the court.

Maybe you would think I am delusional in my thinking and say my thoughts are not relevant. But these are purely my opinions on this matter. 

I SAY HE SHOULD GET A LAWYER AND A FAIR TRIAL. 

Surely would like to hear yours. 

17 Observations:

  1. e deserves a lawyer, every one has the right to a fair trail. no matter what the crime. its a democracy after all if we stoop to the level of denying him a fair trail then we are no different than him. he may or might not have any rights as a citizen of our country, but we have a duty to our selves to be true to law.

  1. Yamini Meduri said...:

    u make a point Smriti...i think the smae too..!!!
    he truly deserves a lawyer...and the Shiv Sena...i dont know what these guys want ??? they are juss known for the violence they create..!!!

  1. Rià said...:

    i dunno why do politicians need to poke their nose into everything!he deserves a lawyer. And one should follow the normal course of law, no matter what!

  1. Jiggy said...:

    Ok, I have a genuine question. Why does everyone keep blaming politicians? In Afzal's case, more than the politicians, it is the human rights campaigners like Arundhati Roy who are fighting for clemency. In Kasab's case, though the chargesheet was filed a bit late, but the delay has also been because of the inability to find a lawyer. And yes, Shiv Sena has been responsible for this, but is their motive to delay the process? I doubt so. I think they are just a bunch of high-adrenalin low-IQ idiots who have a problem with every frikkin thing.
    Anyhow, yes I agree with you when you say that Kasab should get legal representation and there should be a fair trial. Processes cannot be overthrown just because the crime is obvious in nature.

  1. Priya Joyce said...:

    I agree gal..!!

    truly...because..even if he's a criminal he's not to be deprived of any of his rights and more over its a good example of fair trial we are setting before the world.

  1. Wow...I was gonna write about it but yeah bday vday k chakkar mein missed but I cudn't have said it better...

    I think those person who are opposing Kasab's trail are mere bunch of fools...who hid in their home during the attacks and now they are after the political mileage ....

    According to our constitution..every criminal need to have a lawyer for starting the trial if he can't afford...govt. has to provide for it...so even if they wanna hang Kasab...they need to provide him a lawyer so that he can be tried fairly...since all the crimes are heinous ...so he is bound to get death...but if he ain;t tried he will be just like Govts son in law...coz he need to be provided security and other machineries for keeping him safe and sound..... and that is like doing services to that guy who was needed to be hanged much before...

  1. Yours Truly :) said...:

    Call me anything that u want but I am actually quite surprised that he's still alive right now. The only reason he's alive is cos he has information and nothing else. Does he need a fair trial? My answer is "NO". He should have been "taken care of" long time ago. Reason I am against it is cos we are wasting a lot of energy on a person who didnt even think twice before coming to our soil and killing ppl indiscriminately and not thinking if the ones he was killing were old ppl, women or children. Do you really think that he deserves a fair trial when we know that he will end up on the noose?? Sometimes I wish we had a govt which had more guts to express the true feelings... If Taliban was on this side of the border, Kasab would have been taken to the border, made to face pakistan with a big banner which says "This is what we do to terrorists", had a gun to his head and "BAM!!!!" brains all over the road. Too bad we don't do that but we feed the ppl who kill us. Atithi really is devo bhava is it?

  1. --xh-- said...:

    yup - kazab should get a lawyer - unless eh gets a lawyer, his trial will be delayed.. I say, get him a lawyer, give him a fair trail and give him nothing but gallows.

  1. Salomie said...:

    Brilliant post!!! Honestly, my gut reaction when this whole debate first started was HELL NO!!! But on second, third & many more thoughts, I realised that the justice system is bigger than any one individual or any one crime. If we bypass the system for one crime, as terrible as it is, it sets a bad precedent, and is akin to taking the law into our own hands. Its better to let the system work, even though we all know what the final sentence will be.

  1. Pallav said...:

    ok one thing more can anybody tell me wen Kasab was injured ..if at tht time doctor denie to treat him then???

    see he is a criminal but he got right to have advocate...at least for humanity sake he should be given...

    we shld not forget tht our politician..better to write loosers...r criminals somehow...exception r always thr...wqe have gvn them right to run our country...then why not Kasab..at least we should gv him a advocate.....its unfair....all odr terrorist r geeting...i hv no sympathy wid him but its human call

    nice post.. well brought up...
    cheers...hv fun :)

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Just give him what he deserves ... a harsh punishment .. with or without a lawyer !! and people should better stop targetting that lady lawyer of his !!

  1. Anil Sawan said...:

    smriti, the point here is why do we believe that the remorse is genuine? do u still remeber the sadistic grin he had during the attack? mann, i wud say hang him directly. but yes, on a logical way - since Indian law doesn not allow anyone to be punished without a trial, its better to end this game and give him a lawyer or else he might just escape thought the doors of law and we would have to watch him leave.

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Did u just sneak into my mind? :P

    Sure, he deserves a fair trial..

    Shiv Sena deserves to be banned..

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Yup, surely the legal process needs to take its course, no matter how slow or lethargic it may be. If not for anything else, then for the sake of the democracy that we live in. Just imagine, if he was hanged without a lawyer, this would set a precedent, a dangerous precedent. You cannot dispense justice in a way you please just because you are powerful.

    @Nik, thats actually the difference between the Taliban on the other side and India on this side.

  1. he needs a trail dolls....he should be given a fair chance of proving himself...politics these days have become to bad...:(..

    urs..hemu..

  1. Anonymous said...:

    every one needs a lawyer but not Kasab. What for he needs one ? to justify the killings ? he has been caught on camera and on live action. what s the lawyer gonna do? just delay the proceedings and the inevitable.

    i differ from ppl out here. forget shiv sena and other fantics. Kasab doesnt deserve the mercy. our law system is rotten and it wud take years for the judgement to come....till the next attack god forbid, there wud be a hijack drama and the accused wud be let go.

    india s image is of the soft state which cant do nethin to protect its citizens. what happened to the IM terrorists caught last yr ? neone heard of any punishment to them?

    before the politics on Kasab gets murkier, have a speedy trial, give him death and kill him brutally.

    he has done a heinous crime out here. he should not be pardoned for animality or humanity or any human grounds.

    he is not human. when we ask for fair trial for him we question the lives of those brave policemen and NSG commandos who laid down their lives fighting this Pakistani Asswols.....

    Stop being politically correct. Kasab deserves brutal death something which happens in Middle East. Behead him in public or even shoot him with 1000s of bullets.

    and dump the bodies of those slain terrorists in the Pakistan...

    ppl who advocate a advocate for Kasab have forgotten the sights of 11/26?

    Smritz, i beg to differ. he shud be killed ASAP. We cannot afford to spend tax payer's money on this bastard's security and before some "secular" politician for votebank politics creates another rucus, get rid of this animal!!

  1. k.ø.c.h.ü said...:

    just popped in 2 say dat Nithin is officially bak in town...stay on alert...hope im still in 'smriti'=memory...

 
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