Jessica, Mattoo cases rekindle faith in judiciary

New Delhi, Jan 2: The conviction in the Jessica Lal murder, Priyadarshini Matoo murder cases and orders for removal of illegal constructions and cleaning up of the river Yamuna in the Capital rekindled faith of the common people in judiciary, which otherwise seemed to be on the wane.

A bench comprising Justices R S Sodhi and P K Bhasin of the Delhi High Court set aside the order of the trial court and awarded life imprisonment to Manu Sharma, son of a senior Congress leader Vinod Sharma for killing model Jessica Lall at an illegal night club 'Qutub Colonade' run by socialite Bina Ramani in the night of April 29-30, 1999.

Two of his accomplices Vikas Yadav, son of former Parliamentarian D P Yadav, and Amardeep Singh Gill alias Tony, an executive in a multinational firm, were sentenced to four years in prison for conspiracy and destruction of evidence.

The same bench had set aside the acquittal order and awarded death sentence to Santosh Kumar Singh, an advocate and son of a retired IPS Officer for raping and killing a Delhi University Law student Priyadarshni Mattoo at her residence in South Delhi on January 23, 1996.

When Sessions Judge S L Bhayana, who was later elevated to Delhi High Court as a Justice, pronounced Manu and his accomplices not guilty, there was public uproar and resentment against the judiciary.

People from all walks of life cited examples of Jessica and Mattoo murder cases as blots and opined that the high and mighty could get away scot free even after committing heinous crimes such as murder and rape.

The year 2006 ended with a happy note for the judiciary, rekindling hope of the common man for getting justice in the Nitish Katara murder case and Indian Express Journalist Shivani Bhatnagar murder case allegedly involving Vikash Yadav and Haryana IPS Officer R K Sharma respectively, judgements of which were slated to be pronounced in coming year.

When bureaucrats, executive and legislature failed to check the mushrooming of unauthorised constructions in the Capital, judiciary took up the batton to bring back the city's pristine glory by the time of Commonwealth Games in March 2010. A bench headed by then acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain, a pro-citizen judge did not hesitate to go beyond even the confines of law when it came to cleaning up of river Yamuna, beautification of Jama Masjid, asthetic touch to Shahjehan's Chandni Chowk, removal of encroachments from ridge(the green belt of Delhi) and developing the grave of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

Expressing anguish over the ''cosmetic and selective demolition'' carried out by the municipal authorities, his bench had flayed the MCD for following a pick-and-choose policy and succumbing to the pressures of the 'big fish'.

Without mincing words, he had asked the MCD to place list of unauthorised and illegal buildings on its website which would alert a buyer before buying a house.

The ceiling point of the order was the action to be initiated against errant officials for their alleged involvement in corrupt practices. ''The action should not be confined merely to junior engineers and assistant engineers, but should apply equally to deputy commissioners, superintendent engineers and other high-ranking zonal officers. The entire thing appears to be only a drama.''

UNI