Your cover story The Amit Shah Files (Feb 16) makes your political tilt and bias obvious. You have made selective cross-references to arouse suspicion in readers’ minds. Police officers whose names have been cleared by courts will, of course, be reinstated, so why question that? And despite the court’s conclusion, you suggest it was Shah who “gave the supari”. On the one hand, you never fail to champion the need to respect and believe in our judiciary, and on the other, when a verdict does not suit your political preference, you start discrediting the institution.
Soli Shroff, on e-mail
Your cover story brings out the reality of the justice delivery system, in which the likes of Narendra Modi and Shah strut the stage. It took 10 years for the court to discharge Shah of grave charges. I suppose if the killers of Mahatma Gandhi were tried in today’s India, they would probably all be acquitted. Our only hope is suo motu intervention by the Supreme Court.
S.D. Phene, on e-mail
There are technical flaws in your article. Trial commences when charges are framed against an accused and recording of evidence from the prosecution begins. The SC order remitting the case to Mumbai could have been clearer. It is unusual for a court to entertain a petition for discharge from any of the accused at pre-trial stage. Such pleas are to be entertained only at the stage of framing of charges. So it is indeed unusual. Another point: the phone records may show that Shah was in touch with the cops when the putative encounter took place, but in the absence of transcripts it cannot be shown beyond reasonable doubt that he was indeed directing the cops. There’s nothing surprising in what this judge has done. When the Supreme Court, in the Shukla vs Madhya Pradesh case, upheld the right of the state to take away the lives of Indian citizens, this judge’s action looks like a minor misdemeanour.
Hilary Pais, Bangalore
For Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s brother Rubabuddin, the search for justice will remain elusive: he will forever remain a blind man seeking a black cat in a dark room that does not exist.
Rakesh Agrawal, Dehradun
Outlook seems to have no agenda except its pathological obsession with Modi. There are other issues in the world apart from him, Hindutva and the fight for Muslim rights.
Sandilya, Chennai
The first step on the path to fascism is the act of tampering with the justice system. The judgement of the special cbi court does not meet common sense standards, leave alone legal ones. The SC must take this up suo motu. We need people of fighting spirit—like Rubabuddin—to keep justice alive.
Anwaar, Dallas
Proponents of the theory that Sohrabuddin was a criminal and hence deserved to be killed by the police need basic lessons in democracy.
Tejinder Brar, St Louis, US
Typically slanted article. Now Outlook wants us to believe that Sohrabuddin was a saint.
A.K. Ghai, Mumbai
You show Sohrabuddin’s picture as if he is some celebrity.
Gandhar, on e-mail
