Supreme Court comes to the aid of Urban Naxals in another midnight hearing

The Supreme Court, in another late night hearing conducted due to the pressure group, provided relief to five arrested Urban Naxals in Bhima-Koregaon violence case. It has put the five arrested Urban Naxals under house arrest till September 5.

Here is how the events unfolded:

This trend of midnight hearings is very worrisome. It sends the wrong message. Now, people have started asking why the Supreme Court sits at midnight hearing for terrorists, anti-nationals, satisfying a party’s ego (plea against the decision of Karnataka Governor) and immediately hearing the plea of Urban Naxals. The Madras High Court conducted midnight hearing for the corrupt Chidambaram and his son. The Indian Courts’ lax attitude towards anti-nationals, terrorists and corrupt people poses is a big hurdle in the investigation and it is also not good for the nation.  While the common folks have to start from the lower court, s/he continues to suffer from the sluggish judiciary and rampant red-tapism in the process of getting justice, the Urban Naxals, terrorists and dynasts gets five-star preferential treatments. Midnight hearing for the convicted terrorist Yakub Memon is still fresh in the public memory. Led by notorious lawyer Prashant Bhushan, the pressure group successfully demanded a midnight hearing by the Supreme Court and the court duly complied. The police and security agencies work very hard, gather all the proofs against these high-profile criminals but the ‘honorable’ Supreme Court displays a lax attitude towards these high-profile criminals and provides them instant relief. Isn’t it unfair? Now, the common people are asking, is Justice really equal for everyone? Is everyone actually equal before the law? Will SC ever conduct midnight hearing for the common man of India?

Is the support system of Urban Naxals so powerful that they can get away with anything and everything? The SC provided them relief by saying that dissent is a safety valve for Democracy. So, now PM assassination plot is a dissent? Is a threat to PM’s life, internal sabotage, active assistance to terrorism and Naxalism, inciting violence is a form of ‘democratic dissent? As observed by our honorable Supreme Court, yesterday. Most of the arrested have in the past been convicted of serious offences. Is it wrong to arrest so-called ‘dissenters’ when they become a danger for the existence of the country?

There should be a clear-cut definition of dissent and the limits of dissent. Nothing should be absolute, not even the power of the judiciary.

This entire episode is also exposing the hypocrisy of the cabal. The same bunch of people who were questioning the institution when it was not suitable for their narrative are now supporting the appreciating the institution for its decision. The same bunch of people protested rigorously against the court’s judgment against the Delhi University professor and Maoist sympathizer GN Saibaba. They support and criticize SC based on their ideology and narrative. For them now, SC is no more working under the pressure of the Modi government.

The case is not over yet. It is still in the court. Let’s hope that this time the Court will give harshest possible punishment to these Urban Naxals. But, the SC should stop this circus of midnight hearing. It sends a very wrong message which is not good for the credibility of the institution. When it is clearly written that everyone is equal before the law then some high-profile cases should not get preferential treatment.