Let the law follow its course

By Imtiaz Mir Advocate The arrest of Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati in a murder case has evoked an agitational response from the BJP and other Sangh Parivar outfits, setting an altogether different trend in the Indian political culture.

By virtue of a criminal case under investigation with the Tamil Nadu police for the cold blooded murder of one Sankararaman said to be one of detractors of the Shankaracharya, the evidence so for collected prima facie invokes Jayendra Saraswati, therefore the crime Acharya is accused of is murder, and as per the law there is no concession for grant of bail to any one involved in such a heinous offence.

The request for grant of hail by the lower courts and High Court having already been turned down the legal battle for the celebrated man may get prolonged.

The investigation of the case is running fast under the watchful eyes of the judiciary and whatever progress is made in the case it is scrutinized by the magistrates there.

The Shankaracharya represented by a host of lawyers is giving a tough time to the investigators and little room for the witnesses to make false statements.

The result of the investigation is very difficult to predict but given the situation right now looks like the Shankaracharya is landing in trouble.

What has made the investigation and the arrest of Acharya controversial is the outcry among the Hindu fundamentalist, with BJP leading from the front.

These people have unsuccessfully attempted to convert the episode into a political issue.

The Sangh Parivar is exerting extra judicial pressure to seek the unconditional release of the Shankaracharya.

For sure the arrest of Acharya is in a criminal case and not in a political one.

Therefore the demand of his release sounds unreasonable.

By taking to the agitational path the Sangh Parivar wants even one to believe that Acharya's arrest is more out of political vendetta than his involvement in the commission of Sankararaman's murder.

What has been most surprising about the sympathy wave blowing in favour of the Shankaracharya is that no less a person than the former president R.

Venkata Raman and the Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee participated in a dharna organized by BJP in delhi in protest against Acharya's arrest.

The question asking for an answer is that how the leaders of BJP and other Sangh Parivar parties take for granted that the Shankaracharya is an innocent man.

And if at all they have a reason to believe so why not to fight a proper legal battle, provide him assistance in courts and with the investigating agency to prove his innocence.

What is the sense in making Acharya's arrest a national issue? And would that serve any purpose in the administration of justice.

These are the questions lurking in a commonman's mind.

The present campaign by the BJP and other Hindutva parties plead that the most powerful and influential of the alleged conspirators in Sankararaman murder case (where 19 out of 22 accused are already in the custody) the Acharya be released on the grounds of his holiness.

Where as there is no such concession provided in the law for any one accused or suspected of a heinous crime like murder.

Surprisingly there is not a single word uttered by these leaders in favour or against the rest of the accused arrested in the case.

One can very well appreciate the ignorance and compulsion of an ordinary Sadhu, a Shiv Sainik or a Bajrang Dal for raising slogans in support of the Acharya.

But people like Vajpayee and Venkata Raman taking an unreasonable stand by staging a dharna is really un-believable.

Shankaracharya no doubt has a presumption of being innocent at this stage but how can the possibility of his being proved guilty be ruled out.

The ex-Prime Minister and ex- President of India while defending Acharya have to be cautious and watchful lest they become instrumental in causing a miscarriage of justice.

Despite an emotional outcry by the BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders seeking political dividends from the issue they have failed to bring the people out in the streets.

Those asking for mass agitation have failed to convince the people in Tamil Nadu itself.

There has not been even a mild display of public anger anywhere in the country baring a few small scale protest dharnas by the BJP led Sangh Parivar leaders.

Do the leaders of BJP and other Hindutva parties really believe and have such a high degree of faith in the innocence and holiness of the Shankaracharya that they have risen in revolt against his arrest? I believe it is not like that, in fact after getting unexpectedly defeated in the last general election the Sangh leadership is desperately searching for some hot slogans and they are in fact trying to make one out of the Shankaracharya issue.

Creating road blocks for a free and fair investigation by way of exerting religious pressure to seek the release of some one suspected to be a conspirator in a murder ease shows the level our so called religious leaders can fall.

Obviously not for seeking justice but making political gains.

Defending any one from a legal scrutiny and advising not to submit to the process of law amounts to a revolt against the rule of law.

Should some one not submit to the process of law simply because he is a religious leader? Does being a powerful man exonerate some one from submitting to the ordinary law of the land? For sure a common citizen does not stand for this all.

This has been amply clear the way majority of Indians have refused to respond for a mass agitation, no matter how hard the Sangh Parivar might have tried.

The question whether Shankaracharya is guilty of what he is accused of cannot be decided without taking recourse to the process of law.

It is certainly not for a common man to decide what has actually happened and it is not even for the leaders to sit over a judgment.

Instead, every responsible citizen has a sacred duty to work for upholding the rule of law.

There are unconfirmed reports about Shankaracharya making some confessions.

Given these circumstances and many more things yet to surface.

The investigation has yet to take many turns before a proper trial starts in the matter.

What has left us wondering is that what led Vajpayee and R.

Venkata Raman to protest so hurriedly against the arrest of Shankaracharya? What was the touch stone they used to determine the innocence of the Shankaracharya in a hot haste? The BJP and other Sangh outfits while posing to be the sole authority to determine Acharya's role have attempted to damage the prospects of a fair investigation.

Do they mean not to allow law take its course? Do they forcibly want all of us to believe that a man of God like the Shankaracharya cannot be guilty of a crime like murder? What has been most saddening about the whole issue was to see some eminent national leaders spear heading the political campaign of defending the Shankaracharya accused of a heinous crime? Without getting swayed away by political and communal consideration every civilized and law abiding citizen is supposed to wait for the court of law to decide what is right and what is wrong.

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