On A Loose End

In yet another incident of a road traffic accident an 83 year old gentleman was killed by a 15 year old driving a motorcycle. The boy obviously did not have any license. The boy was let off on bail and the Police was still to decide whether the charges should include culpable homicide not amouhnting to murder. I fully sympathise with the family of the deceased and agree to the offence of the boy. But there are other aspects to this case which obviously our much enlightened society will not bother about. The pedestrians in this country are a lawless breed. In fact, if one permits, i would like to term them as walking terrorists. Everyday these lawless people terrorise hundreds and thousands of motorists on the Road. The irony is that while the motorists are paying road tax, the pedestrians do not and still use the road blatantly. To add to it everytime a motorist hits or even nudges a pedestrian, he not only has to bear the brunt of the public but also face the law. The pedestrians in ...

The good or the bad news, as you like it, is that the Shiv Sainiks after a long hiatus have found the courage to come out in the open again. Painfully missing for such a long time after the Mumbai attacks, I had begun to wonder if they had been terrorised for life and will stop their own terror tactics for good. Unfortunately that was not to be. After the decision of the Mumbai Lawyers Association not to defend Kasab, the courts had nominated Lawyer Dinesh Mota to defend Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive. Mota refused, apparently because of his conscience and moral values, though I suspect it had more to do with the internal extremists. Lawyer Ashok Sarogi then came forward and volunteered to defend Kasab, his logic being, if Indira Gandhi's assassins could get advocates, why not Kasab? Bravo Mr Ashok Sarogi. That is what woke the Shiv Sainiks from their post 26/11 deep slumber and they came out in large numbers to protest the good man's decision. The Chief Justice...