Kochi : The Kerala High Court on Friday came down heavily on retired Director General of Police Tomin J. Thachankary for seeking permission to travel abroad for a job after spending his entire period in custody at the jail hospital, warning that his bail could even be cancelled. Justice A. Badarudeen expressed strong reservations over the plea, pointing out that Thachankary had not spent even a single day in jail after his conviction in a disproportionate assets case in September. The court had examined his medical records, submitted by the Poojappura Central Jail Superintendent following an earlier direction.

The records showed that he had remained in hospital throughout his four weeks in custody. “He has been admitted to the hospital from the date of admission till the date of release. He has not been in jail even for a day. Nicely stayed in the hospital. There he has 1,000 ailments. Now, no ailments. Wants to go to Dubai and do a job. How can it be? Don’t repeat lies before the court,” the judge observed. The court questioned how a person who had cited serious health problems while in custody could now claim to be fit enough to take up employment abroad. “When he goes to jail, he goes and lies down in the hospital instead of staying in jail. Once he comes out, he is completely healthy.

All this cannot happen,” the court remarked. The judge also warned that the court could consider cancelling the bail granted to him, saying such conduct had to be viewed seriously. The matter was posted for further hearing on Thursday. Thachankary was sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 30.84 lakh by the Kottayam Vigilance Court on September 17 after being convicted of amassing assets disproportionate to his known income between 2003 and 2007. The assets were valued at Rs 30.84 lakh, constituting 52.33 per cent of his known income. He was the first former police officer of DGP rank in Kerala to be sent to prison following a criminal conviction. The High Court suspended his sentence and granted him bail on October 15 pending the disposal of his appeal. He subsequently approached the court seeking relaxation of his bail conditions to travel abroad for employment.

Chandigarh : Laying bare four decades of systemic subversion of the criminal justice system, former Delhi High Court judge Justice Shiv Narain Dhingra has said trials following the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre were conducted like an institutional “fraud” designed to shield influential political patrons.

Speaking at the session, “Murder of Justice”, at the BJP’s ‘Zakhm 84 De’ conclave here this week, Justice Dhingra, who also headed the Supreme Court-mandated Special Investigation Team (SIT) in 2018, gave a chilling account of how the police machinery, procedural technicalities, and political patronage converged to bury accountability.

“No riot takes place on its own; every communal riot is managed and patronised,” Justice Dhingra said.

“In 1984, crowds from resettlement colonies were mobilised, armed, and handed specific lists to target Sikh households. What followed in courtrooms was a mockery of justice,” he said.

Justice Dhingra added, “When our justice delivery system operates with a dismal six per cent conviction rate, does an acquittal after two decades represent justice? If the accused brought before the Bench didn’t commit the murder, then who did? The state had an obligation to find out, but the system simply rolled over.”

Drawing from his tenure as Additional Sessions Judge at the Karkardooma Special Court handling East Delhi cases, Justice Dhingra highlighted the procedural traps deployed by the then-administration.

In the Trilokpuri massacres, police bundled over 200 distinct murders into a single omnibus first information report (FIR). Knowing that criminal procedural law forbids trying more than three offences together, the prosecution let an application to separate the cases languish for years.

Justice Dhingra recalled retrieving the stalled plea, directing independent chargesheets for each murder, and breaking it down into 200 distinct trials, bringing key political figures like H.K.L. Bhagat and local councillors to stand trial.

Successive inquiry panels were rotated between 1984 and 1992 solely to prevent the registration of formal criminal cases.

When FIRs were finally registered eight years later on commission recommendations, state defence lawyers cynically cited the “unexplained eight-year delay” as primary grounds to secure acquittals in trial courts.

Recalling an attempt by the CBI to arrest Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, Justice Dhingra recounted that sleuths arriving at 7 a.m. were forced to wait outside while a mob encircled the residence within 15 minutes. While local police refused to intervene or assist the central agency, Kumar’s lawyers secured anticipatory bail before noon.

Justice Dhingra noted that the CBI subsequently submitted an affidavit on his court record revealing that the official police case file had landed in the physical custody of Kumar’s defence counsel.

New Delhi : A political controversy has erupted over Jharkhand Health Minister and Congress leader Irfan Ansari’s remarks that around 40 lakh youths were waiting for a signal from Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, to take to the streets, warning that the situation in India could become worse than in Bangladesh and Nepal. While Opposition leaders have maintained that any change of government must take place through democratic and constitutional means, BJP leaders have accused Ansari of encouraging unrest and attempting to create anarchy. Speaking to Media, Congress leader Udit Raj responded to Ansari’s statement, questioning the minister’s claim about the number of youths and asserting that the Opposition’s approach was rooted in constitutional methods.

“Only Irfan Ansari would know where the 40 lakh youth are. It could be 40 lakh or even 4 crore. Our path of struggle is democratic and constitutional. It is neither the Bangladesh model nor the Nepal model. We believe in democracy. In Nepal, the country’s own heritage was set on fire by its youth, while the situation in Bangladesh was also very disturbing. That is not our path. Our path is one of non-violence,” he said. Congress leader Rakesh Sinha, meanwhile, defended the right of young people to protest and questioned the government’s response to demonstrations. “Protesting is a constitutional right. If the youth put up their demands, will you shoot at them with pellet guns and take away their eyesight? You won’t even file an FIR. If this situation continues, how are the youth going to suppress their emotions? And whenever the youth gets aggressive, there has been regime change, and we assure you that there will be change,” he said.

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Dr Ashutosh Verma said that any change of government in a democratic country like India could happen only through established democratic processes. “The Samajwadi Party is in support of this. We will defeat them the way they have defeated us. The Samajwadi Party is going to form a government with a clear mandate and the trust of people. This is the only way ahead,” he said. Meanwhile, NDA leaders criticised Ansari’s remarks and demanded that he should be sacked. BJP Bihar President Sanjay Saraogi strongly criticised Ansari’s remarks, describing them as an admission of what he alleged was a Congress-backed attempt to create political instability. “This anti-national and poisonous statement by Jharkhand government minister Irfan Ansari is an open admission of Congress’ well-planned anarchic and violent conspiracy. Such anti-national statements, talking about regime change and turning India into Bangladesh or Nepal, will never succeed in a country like India,” Saraogi said. He added that India was a democratic nation with 1.4 billion citizens and alleged that no one would be allowed to create unrest at the behest of foreign powers.

Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan also criticised the minister, saying such statements reflected a lack of understanding of India’s democratic institutions. “First, such leaders should be sent to Kanke, where there is a very good mental health facility. They are unfamiliar with democracy’s power in this country. India is not Bangladesh or Sri Lanka. It is the world’s largest democracy, with a population nearing 150 crore; you cannot repeat what happened in smaller nations here. These statements should not be taken that seriously,” he said. BJP Jharkhand spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo alleged that Ansari’s remarks suggested that the Congress wanted students to confront security personnel. He said students did not want violence and questioned the minister’s references to Bangladesh and Nepal, alleging that political upheaval in those countries had resulted in violence and instability. JD(U) MLA Vinay Chaudhary said Opposition leaders had the opportunity to raise their concerns in Parliament but were not allowing the House to function smoothly.

“Everything is marked in a democracy. If the Prime Minister does not listen to you there, then you can raise your voice. Indian citizens give a due reply in the elections. They show in the elections whom they support and whom they don’t,” he said. The controversy followed Ansari’s remarks during an interaction in Delhi, in which he claimed that 40 lakh young people were ready to take to the streets and were waiting for a signal from Rahul Gandhi. He said the Congress leader had so far held them back. Ansari had also alleged that farmers, workers, the middle class, Dalits, tribals and Muslims were facing difficulties under the BJP-led government and warned that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not take note of the situation, the country could witness developments worse than those in Bangladesh and Nepal.