Salman and Jayalalithaa may walk free in
finality but we will keep asking questions.
Well, legal recourse is a costly thing in
this country and how it serves the purpose of the high and mighty is clear,
first from Salman Khan's hit and run case, and then in J. Jayalalithaa's
disproportionate assets case.
In both cases, the trial in lower courts
dragged on for years. 13 years in Salman's case and 18 years in Jayalalithaa's
case.
Salman got interim bail on the same day of
conviction and got his sentence suspended and full-time bail on the very second
day of his conviction.
Jayalalithaa got bail on 21st day of her conviction
by the lower court (bail from the Supreme Court) and in 8 months, got it
overturned in the Karnataka High Court, the High Court that had denied her bail
when she had approached it on 10th of her conviction.
Bombay High Court will now hear Salman's
case with claimed testimonies that were not taken into account by the
prosecution at the lower court. Salman is a big star, probably the biggest mass
star today. He is a changed man now and he also runs a charity that works well.
And irrespective of what the law says, what
his past and present say and what the courts say, the changed perception about
him, with all his resources, will a play major role here.
With Jayalalithaa, the Supreme Court will hear
her acquittal next (if challenged). O Paneerselvam, Jayalalithaa's trusted aid
and the current chief minister of Tamil Nadu, who took over from Jayalalithaa
after she was sentenced by the lower court, has offered his resignation, as the
sources say and the best battery of lawyers including a legal luminary will
represent the next Tamil Nadu chief minister (in natural circumstances) in the
Supreme Court.
Though Jayalalithaa is yet to make a public
appearance, she is sure to take over from her trusted aide of all seasons. She
sees herself as the 'gold refined by fire' even if her opponents find
mathematical discrepancies in the High Court judgment in 'calculating' her
income.
The legal luminaries involved in these
cases would cost crores that someone with deep pockets like a Salman Khan or J.
Jayalalithaa can well afford.
Serious cases have their range in thousands
(of Rs) in lower courts. The very cases in High Courts turn to cost you in
lakhs. And in case of Supreme Court, even a single hearing involving these
legal luminaries may run into lakhs or tens of lakhs. Even an unheard lawyer of
the Supreme Court would cost around a lakh for Special Leave Petition for a
single appearance in the apex court of India.
Filing a case of serious nature and
fighting it seriously in Indian courts, with multilayered corruption and shoddy
professional integrity, would cost you dearly. A good battery of lawyers
including legal luminaries of this country can complicate any case to the
extent that it takes years before the case reaches to any conclusion.
Those who can afford fighting a case though
its different layers, demands and years, stay in the league to get the decision
while those who cannot, i.e., the majority of this country, bow out in the
process.
Featured image courtesy: Images sources
from websites of Being Human, AIADMK and e-Court project, Government of India