Case Against Maya Kodnani, Convicted In 2002 Riots, Has Gaping Holes -- Part I

Dr Maya Kodnani was sentenced to 28 years in prison by a special trial judge for “masterminding” the riots in Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gam areas in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in 2002. It is highly likely that Kodnani, and others, may have been framed for political reasons, while those who were guilty got away. Here’s why.

On 31 August 2012, Jyotsna Yagnik, the special trial judge, pronounced a 28-year prison sentence against Dr Maya Kodnani for “masterminding” one of the bloodiest episodes of communal violence in Ahmedabad on 28 February 2002. This judgement led to widespread jubilation in the mainstream media, orchestrated by the “secular brigade” allied to the Congress and the left parties. Kodnani was serving as a minister for women and child development in Narendra Modi’s government from 2007. So a jail term for one of Modi’s ministers gave a big boost to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, making them believe that this would pave the way for getting at Modi himself, who was then chief minister of Gujarat.

As in the case of Lt Col Shrikant Purohit’s incarceration, none in the media examined the case with care. Purohit was released on bail in the Malegaon blasts case even though the evidence that he was aiding “saffron terrorism” was thin. The mainstream media simply reproduced the UPA-orchestrated narrative without questioning the evidence in Purohit’s case.

However, after discovering some evidence of mala fide intent in Purohit’s case, I decided to personally examine Kodnani’s case as well. The motivation for it came from reading the judgment of Judge Yagnik, who did not accept large parts of the evidence proffered in favour of Kodnani. For this purpose, I went and met Kodnani’s family in Ahmedabad about two years ago, and examined the evidence marshalled against her as well as the evidence Kodnani had put forward in her defence.

Now that my 2014 exposé regarding Purohit’s case has been vindicated and even parts of the mainstream media have accepted that the UPA government was less than fair with him by jailing and torturing a serving army officer, I hope readers will follow the details of Kodnani’s case with an open mind and judge the case on merit.

When Journalists Serve ISI Agenda

My Complaint to Press Council of India against Sagarika Ghose, Consulting Editor Times of India for her false and inflammatory statements on Twitter

To                                                                                                                              

May 26, 2017

Smt. Vibha Bhargava,

The Secretary, 

Press Council of India, 

Soochna Bhavan, 8-C.G.O. Complex,

Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003

Subject: Complaint under Section 14 of the Press Council Act, 1978 against Ms. Sagarika Ghose, journalist and Consulting Editor, Times of India

Dear Madam,

The instant complaint is being lodged under Section 14 of the Press Council Act, 1978 against Ms. Sagarika Ghose, journalist and Consulting Editor, Times of India in relation to her tweet dated May 19, 2017 on social media platform, Twitter. An image of the said tweet, which Ms. Ghose has since deleted but not really retracted, is enclosed. (Annexure 1). The contents of the tweet are extracted herein below:

“Mobs are hunting and killing Muslims across India and THERE IS NO JUSTICE FOR THE KILLERS! WAKE UP, GOI!”

The sweeping, unqualified, baseless and fear-mongering nature of the tweet speaks for itself, thereby squarely attracting Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 for promoting enmity and disharmony between communities. This is a text-book instance of spreading ill will and enemity between communities. Therefore, itis a cause for serious alarm for every concerned citizen who believes in peaceful co-living between diverse communities of India.

While this is not a one-off instance and is consistent with Ms. Ghose’s past conduct whereby she has passed off unverified malafide rumours as facts, what makes her current conduct, unpardonable and indefensible is that her tweet gives the impression that Muslims are being slaughtered en masse on a daily basis in India.

Such inflammatory statements have been used as convenient propaganda material by Jihadist groups to justify putting India on top of their hit list for terror attacks.

At a time when Islamist fury is on the rise in India and sympathisers of ISIS in India and abroad are looking for excuses to justify their murderous acts and indoctrination of impressionable Muslim youth in India, Ms. Ghose has time and again contributed to exacerbating the situation. The resultant fear and mistrust among Hindus and Muslims endangers national security and the safety of the every Indian citizen, regardless of his or her faith.

When I and several others responded to Ghose’s inflammatory & baseless tweet, saying we will report the matter to police unless she retracts and aplogizes publicly, she removed the tweet saying, she is deleting it in deference to “hurt” feelings. (Annexure 2) By bringing in “hurt sentiments” she opens us to the charge of “intolerance” of the kind displayed by religious bigots. This amounts to adding insult to injury.  We objected to her tweet because it was based on outright lies and deliberate attempt to create communal disharmony, not because our religious feelings were “hurt” by her calumny.

Her lack of remorse at her feckless behaviour is evident in her pseudo-apology. Her irresponsible conduct cannot be taken lightly because she is employed in a senior position at one of the most prestigeous names in Indian journalism—namely The Times of India.

Ms. Ghose cannot hide behind the oft-used alibi of free speech to defend her reprehensible tweet and conduct because the restrictions that apply to free speech under the Constitution are squarely applicable in the instant case. No individual or organization has an absolute and unbridled right to free speech, especially speech that promotes communal discord and puts in harm’s way the security of the country. Most important of all, her statement is factually incorrect. Even in countries, such as the USA and UK,where free speech is celebrated, wilful failure to undertake due diligence or deliberate spread of wrong information with inflammatory intent results in the journalist being blacklisted for employment by all credible media houses.

We urge the PCI to take firm action against the deviant behaviour of Ms. Ghose and initiate proceedings under the Press Council Act as well as under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 to make an example of her for the rest of the journalistic community. This measure is urgently required for upholding the dignity of journalism since there is an increasing tendency among media persons to serve hidden agendas through their provocative writings and statements which have little grounding in reality. This is eroding people’ faith in the Fourth Estate in addition to exposing Indian society to greater risk from Islamist terror.

In the interest of keeping alive the public’s faith in PCI’s ability to call irresponsible journalists and media houses to account, it is imperative for the PCI to forthwith initiate appropriate legal action against Ms. Ghose and inform members of the public, including the complainant, of the action it takes against Ms. Ghose.

Sincerely,

Madhu Purnima Kishwar

Maulana Azad National Professor, ICSSR

Founder MANUSHI.

ANNEXURE 1

ANNEXURE 2

J&K High Court Gives Interim Stay on Non-Bailable Warrants against Madhu Kishwar

For all my friends and well wishers who have been worried about my safety following the non bailable arrest warrant issued against me by Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar—Ms Masarat Shaheen—here is a small bit of good news.

In response to my petition in the High Court of J&K filed in Jammu requesting a stay order against the proceedings in the Court of CJM Srinagar and transfer of my case to a court in Jammu, Hon’ble Justice Tashi Rabstan has ordered as follows:

"Subject to objections from the other side, the proceedings pending before the court of Learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar in File No 14/Alif A, titled “Syed Shujaat Bukhari Vs. Madhu Kishwar”, shall remain stayed for the next date of hearing only fixed before the Trial Court."

Notice to respondent Shujaat Bukhari is returnable within two weeks and the case to be listed in the High Court “immediately after two weeks”.  This means I am saved from arrest for the next two weeks or so. So all I have at the moment is interim relief. I will keep you posted on whether or not I get permanent stay order from the J&K High court  & how the case proceeds henceforth. 

It is likely to be a long-drawn battle.
(For details of what provoked CJM Srinagar to issue non-bailable warrants against me Read--http://madhukishwar.blogspot.in/2017/04/fact-sheet.html)

One cannot predict whether Bukhari will accept the case being transferred to Jammu or whether he will insist that the criminal defamation case he has filed against me should be tried in Srinagar CJM court.

As far as I am concerned, I am willing to face arrest but not willing to be tried in Srinagar CJM’s court simply because I know that I will not get a fair trial in her court. She had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against me in clear violation of Supreme Court guidelines in such matters.

In order to demonstrate my respect for the majesty of the court, I had made sure that my lawyer appeared before her on each hearing. The reasons I offered for seeking exemption from personal appearance in her court were all legally sound. I had only pleaded that my rights as an “accused” as defined by the Supreme Court be respected. I did not not demand any special favor or concession nor did I show any disrespect towards the court.

Apart from other sound reasons I offered in my submissions, it is no exaggeration to say that appearing in a Srinagar court under the existing volatile and violence ridden environment prevailing in the Valley poses serious risks to my life and security. A state where a mere bye-election leads to death of 8 persons due to mob violence and countless security persons being seriously injured while ensuring peaceful conduct of the bye elections is not a safe place for anyone. I am particularly vulnerable because Shujaat Bukhari has enormous political clout within the establishment (his brother is a senior cabinet minister in Mehbooba Mufti’s government) but also deep links with militant groups. He could easily get me eliminated in what may be passed off as a case of “stone pelting” by “innocent youth” of Kashmir which has already led to deaths of scores of policemen and paramilitary forces!

In a situation where security forces are so vulnerable, where the chief minister requests the Election Commission to postpone elections because she is unable to campaign in her home turf from where her brother is fighting Lok Sabha bye election, what kind of safety can I as an unprotected outsider expect?

Debt of Gratitude to my lawyers : Finally, I owe a very big thanks to my two lawyers—young Ravi Sharma of Delhi & one of Jammu’s top most lawyers, Sunil Sethi—both of whom I met for the first time through common friends when I was looking for lawyers to help me with this case.

Ravi flew from Delhi to Srinagar to be present for each hearing. His intense involvement in the case born out of deep patriotism, his professional diligence and genuine concern for my safety made it much easier to face the risks involved in fighting this case. It is no exaggeration to say that he lost more sleep worrying about my likely arrest than I did, especially since I made it very clear that I was neither going to deny the tweets deemed “defamatory” by Shujaat Bukhari nor apologize for them!

Sunil Sethi is an eminent legal luminary of Jammu who also practices in the Supreme Court. A common friend put me in contact with him and it was decided that I would fly to Jammu for signing vakalatnama and my petition to the High Court on April 6, which happened to be my birthday. Though I am not the partying kind, even so I left Delhi feeling sorry for having to spend my birthday in the dreary atmosphere of a court with its soul destroying procedures. 

But Sunil Sethi made it one of the most memorable days of my life.

He had prepared the draft of my petition to J&K High Court in record time in close coordination with Ravi Sharma. He took up the case as though I were close family member, not just another client. He had me received at the airport like a VIP, treated me to a sumptuous breakfast at his house before personally taking me to court for legal formalities which were all over within half an hour because he had pre-planned it all so well. Even for my return journey, Sunil ji took care of the minutest detail so that I didn’t even have to stand in line for my boarding pass. Far from a stressful experience it turned out to be the best birthday gift any body could give me. 

Thus what had been a nerve-racking ordeal with well wishers telling me to go into hiding lest the J&K police nab me before I get a stay order (something I refused to do) was made easy to bear because of these two lawyers.

The outcome of the case is unpredictable but I promise Shujaat Bukhari a good fight to the very end!

My very sincere thanks to all those who have lent support to me during this trying time, especially those who wrote blogs, articles and ran a vigorous support campaign through social media. I hope you will continue this support while we take this battle to its logical conclusion--pressing upon the J&K state government as well as the Central government to stop lending financial and political support to owners/editors of newspapers, journalists, politicians, academics and NGOs promoting pro Pak agenda of secession in Kashmir.

See Link : Non Bailable Arrest Warrants by Kashmir Court against Madhu Kishwar - Offence? "Defamatory" Tweets against Separatist Newspaper.