Power as a weapon
With the first phase of the Jharkhand assembly election over yesterday and the Maharashtra polls scheduled for November 20, a scrutiny of candidates’ affidavits has once again sparked public interest.
Addressing a gathering of former and sitting judges and senior lawyers, Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi launched Trials of Truth book by the additional solicitor general, Supreme Court Pinky Anand and Ms Gauri Goburdhun on Monday.
The book, which has compiled some of the landmark criminal cases of the country including Rajiv Gandhi murder case, Nithari killings and Jessica Lal murder case is a “combination of simplicity and accuracy to interpret complex legal cases,” the Governor said at a function organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce at Bengal Club during the day.
The judicial system is an important part of democracy, the Governor said and this book will help us to see “how the accused is tried and defended and also the way the rigours of law made to bear upon them.” He lauded the authors who while penning the book “lived with the subject and expressed themselves lucidly.”The pacy writing of the book has been combined with a lawyer’s perspective,” the governor said. The co-author, Ms Goburdhun hoped the streets will be safer and criminal justice fairer.
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“Two common threads running through the 10 chapters of this 200-odd page book are how some of the cases affected society and how society intervened to change the course of the trial,” the additional solicitor general said. Citing the Nanavati case, she said it is an instance how two communities reacted and also led to the end of trial by jury.
Later, the additional solicitor underscored the importance of circumstantial evidence in the Jessica Lal and Priyadarshini Mattoo cases. “Though I did not want the book to be women-centric, some of the victims were women and also a chapter has been devoted to women who kill,” she said.
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