Does Justice Generally Favour the Rich and the Famous?

’ve been thinking recently about the fairness of our legal system. It’s often said that there is one rule for the rich/powerful/famous and another for the rest and this applies equally to the law. The legal system is of course flawed (like any man made system), but is this such a huge flaw that destroys any authority that the system has or is it just a minor inconvenience that means that the occasional miscarriage of justice happens?

In everyday life we make decisions about people we meet and see. We often make these decisions based on subjective criteria. We can be swayed by a very articulate person who may or may not be as they present (a good conman is usually articulate). The way a person talks, their posture and body language all play a vital role in how we perceive them. Is this transferred into the justice system? More than likely. Moreover,it is a known fact that power, money and influence talks.

We can easily take the Rizwanur case as an example. Rizwanur Rahman married Priyanka Todi on August 18 2007 and his body was found on railway tracks near Dum Dum far from his home in Park Circus on Septemeber 21 of the same year.The case reflected the struggle of lovers who resist the society to marry persons of their choice. The CBI grilled Ashok Todi ( Rizwanur’s rich and famous father-in-law), Priyanka Todi (Rizwanur’s wife) and also cricketer Saurav Ganguly’s brother Snehashish, who is a director in Todi’s hosiery company. The CBI was convinced that there was a conspiracy — fuelled by money and muscle power — to break the marriage between Rizwanur and Priyanka Todi, and if this called for ending or forcing an end of Rizwanur’s life, so be it.

A situation was created in which Rizwanur had no escape hatches left: Death was the only certainty. The CBI also grilled the Kolkata cops. IPS officers Gyanwant Singh and Ajoy Kumar admitted that former police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee had introduced the Todis to them and asked them to “sort out the case”.

Inspite of several evidences pointing out to the obvious murderers (Ashok Todi and his several influential friends),the CBI has wound up investigations into the mysterious death of young computer graphics designer Rizwanur Rahman after three months and concluded he committed suicide. They stated that he killed himself in a traumatic state of mind under mounting pressure from the Todi family, the police and unable to bear separation from his wife Priyanka. The Rahman family, however, did not buy the suicide angle and still believes Rizwanur was murdered. His mother and brother Rukbanar had told the local media in Kolkata that the CBI must corroborate its claims that he committed suicide. But nothing was done against the Todis after that.

Rizwanur’s death, following his marriage to Priyanka on August 18, had triggered national outrage and had led for the first time to the civil society demanding justice through marches, dharnas and candle light prayers in Kolkata. Perhaps money, power and influence silenced the legal system. Who know? No one talks about it now. We Indians are famous for forgetting incidents such as these. For sometimes we lead out a huge hue and cry and have protest marches. But after sometimes,everything dies down,the villains go scot-free and some other verdict is given.

There are many such examples of justice favouring the rich, famous, influential and powerful people. We know that we have a huge number of MPs and MLAs who have a huge list of charge sheets against their name but no step is taken against them. Even so many ministers have been implicated in so many cases, but the legal system ultimately turns a blind eye to them. We have the Fodder Scam as an example were our present Railway Minister (who was then the Chief Minister of Bihar) Mr. Lalloo Prasad Yadav was involved. Fodder Scam was a scam related to Animal Husbandry Department of Government of Bihar in which irregularities of nearly Rs 950 crores (US $ 210 million) were detected. He was accused in six cases of fodder scam and was sent to jail at least four times and was forced to resign from the Chief Minister’s post seven years ago when the CBI filed a charge sheet in one case. Despite facing cases in the fodder scam he has been gifted a high-profile Ministry in the Manmohan Cabinet.

The list is endless. We may go on and on if we start penning down articles on an issue as sensitive as this. There have been numerous incidents like these. Even the Hindi film world has not shun itself from such a topic. We have seen several Hindi films made where the rich and the famous manipulate the system to make their ends meet.

There may be exceptions to the rule - but the general rule is Justice generally favours the rich and the famous, be it in India or abroad.