An article in The Times of India published on 4th March 2006 contained the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s proposal, which was originally contained in the Bill introduced by the previous NDA government but was subsequently dropped on the standing committee’s recommendation, to the home minister Shivraj Patil to take steps to protect witnesses in sensitive criminal cases in order to prevent them from turning hostile under duress or for a price.

The moving of the proposal has taken place subsequent to the witnesses turning hostile in the Jessica Lal’s case.

A Brief About The case:

Model Jessica Lal was shot at point blank range on the night of April 29, 1999 while she was serving as a celebrity bar maid in the Tamarind Court Bar owned by socialite Bina Ramani.

It was alleged that Manu Sharma, son of Congress politician Vinod Sharma, murdered her on her refusal to serve him a drink since the bar had shut down for the day

The Delhi Police also charged Vikas Yadav, the son of former Rajya Sabha Parliamentarian D P Yadav, along with ten others.

To the contrary of the millions following the case the accused were acquitted along with seven other co-accused in the Jessica Lal murder case.

It was a long awaited judgment, which was pronounced after a long interval of six years in which the case saw a lot of meandering as a large number of witnesses turned hostile.

Jessica Lal’s case is a living example, which once again highlights the fact that “Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied”. This case has seen the witnesses turning hostile, evidences being tampered and the influential people once again escaping the eyes of law.

The questions that arise are: Whether the protection of the witnesses would help in preventing them from turning hostile? Whether witnesses, in cases having high profile list of accused, would be bold enough not to turn hostile owing to the reason that law is protecting them!?

Comments are invited on the above in order to arrive at an understanding as to what is the future of the common people when high profile list of accused are against them.

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