An Indo-Italian Job
Two cases of jumping parole have exposed our lax system of both policing and judiciary. In both cases the accused misused the granted parole.One is an Indian story and the other is an Italian story enacted in both India and Italy. They seem to qualify for being termed as an Indo-Italian job.
Bitti Mohanty, son of a DIG was sentenced to seven years in jail in Rajasthan in a rape case. A few months after the sentence he appealed to the court that he be allowed to be released on parole to see his ailing mother in Odisha. The court granted him a 15 day parole with the condition that he shall not leave Jaipur city and report every second day to a particular police station. He fulfilled neither of the two conditions and escaped from the clutches of the law. He has surfaced only a week back in a city in Kerala where he was gainfully employed under a different name. He had successfully created a new identity for himself backed up by the necessary proofs like election card etc.
In the second case two Italian marines namely Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone are accused of allegedly shooting dead two Indian fishermen after mistaking them for pirates off the coast of Kerala in February, 2012. They are facing trial in Indian court. However in December, 2012, in a surprise decision they were allowed to visit Italy to meet their families on the condition that they would return to face trial in India. It was a High Court decision. The Italians duly returned in early January, 2013. Thereafter the Supreme Court recommended that the cases be transferred to maritime courtto be set up in Delhi. Furtherthe apex court also permitted them to go again to Italy so that they could cast their votes in the recently held general elections in February. They were permitted to go to Italy on the condition that they would return back to India to face trial.
In both cases it is clear it was a well thought out strategy to escape from the law. The courts were successfully persuaded by government lawyers to believe that the accused would return. The High Court and Supreme Court gave conditional permissions. In both cases the accused have made a breach of conditions of parole.
In Bitti Mohanty's case the local police did not raise alarm when he did not fulfill the condition of reporting to them every second day. The parole was for a period of 15 days. The police filed a report of him having jumped parole only after a whole month had elapsed. This gave Bitti enough time to escape. It raises doubts about the intentions of the police especially as he was the son if a DIG level officer. Were they helping one of their own colleauges, is the question repeatedly being raised. For seven long years he remained untraced. It is only now that upon a anonymous letter to the police in Kerala which has resulted in him getting arrested. He however is still claiming that he is not Bitty Mohanty!!
In the case of the Italians it is now clear that they were perhaps testing the first time, whether Indian courts will grant them permission to leave the shores of India. When they tasted success they came back to establish their reliability credentials. By this time perhaps the Italian government woke up to the possibility of getting them back legally to Italy and then not sending them back to India.Therefore the marines accordingly again requested permission to go to Italy for casting their votes and like before they would return back to face the trial. This time the highest court in the country permitted them to go out of the borders of India. Now the Italian government is refusing to send them and is also challenging India's jurisdiction to try them.
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush is what most of us learn in school. But the concerned authorities ignored this. In the Indian case it is possible it may have been the bureaucrats and in the Italian case it may have been allegedly a tacit understanding between the concerned governments. I clearly remember expressing my doubt as to whether the Italians will return when they went in December to meet their families. I was also pleasantly surprised when they returned back. However now it can be safely said it was a well thought out plan to eventually get them back.
In both case the common man's faith in the country's diplomatic handling of foreign accused is shaken. The Italian ambassador is supposed to have given an undertaking of their return to India. He can not be prosecuted because he enjoys diplomatic immunity. In the case of Mohanty it was widely believed that his father was in touch with him. A simple watch on his movements and phone calls would have perhaps solved the issue much earlier and brought credit to the police.
it is clear that we are a soft state. We care more for the accused and not the victims. The German girl allegedly raped by Bitti has gone back to her country and is forgotten by us but could she have forgotten her bitter experience in India. The Italians have been allowed to escape but what about the poor fishermen's families. Will they ever get justice? Our country's name has been sullied internationally but does it matter to our administrators? Why are the courts so easily taken in to give paroles and permissions by which the accused can escape? Who is to be held accountable for these lapses. Will any heads roll. Will anyone resign from his post to accept blame. Perhaps neither will happen. The channels will debate it, papers will write articles and I also have vented my frustration. Soon all will be forgotten as we will have become busy with other similar cases.
When oh when will we become a country of strong rules and systems.
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