Why is this woman
still in jail?
ANAND PATWARDHAN
Tehelka Magazine- 2013-06-15; Issue 24, Volume 10
Denied bail
again, Sheetal Sathe may give birth behind bars. Is this the human face of
justice?
ON 2 JUNE, eight months pregnant, Kabir Kala Manch (KKM)
activist Sheetal Sathe was denied bail by the Mumbai Sessions Court Mali
They had courted arrest voluntarily, and had chosen to face the due
process of law. But clearly, this system is faulty. Bail is usually denied when
there is a possibility of the accused running away, but in this particular
case, since the accused gave themselves up there are no grounds to suggest that
they are going to run away.
Denying bail to somebody who is eight months pregnant is inhuman. It
looks increasingly certain that Sheetal and Sachin’s child will be born in
jail. We all know what conditions in jail are like. The food is extremely poor
at the best of times. Hygiene is non-existent. Though Sheetal is getting
medical checkups, her nutrition remains a major cause for concern.
There is not much to prove that these people — youths who use music and
poetry, not guns, to protest the institutionalised inequalities rampant in our
country — are Naxalites. Even if you assume that they were in some way
attracted to the ideology, the Supreme Court has established that mere
membership of a banned organisation is not something punishable by itself, in
that there is a distinction between active and passive membership of a banned
outfit. In fact, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Deepak Dengle and
Siddharth Bhonsle, two other members of the KKM who were arrested in 2011 in the
same case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, saying that sympathy
for an ideology does not incriminate someone. It was that decision that gave
Sheetal and Sachin hope for a fair hearing.
These people have not committed a violent crime. Even the State does not
accuse them of having committed one. They are being victimised for what they
think, or to put it more accurately, what the State assumes they think. By
restricting people from singing songs, performing plays or speaking out against
injustice, it is reducing the space for dissent a democracy naturally allows.
If people are not allowed to voice their grievances publicly, they will be
pushed underground. So, in effect, the State is forcing people like them to go
against the law.
The Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh has also negatively impacted the
general atmosphere. If anyone is accused of being a Naxalite in these volatile
times, it becomes a very hard thing to overcome in court or in society.
We are trying to go to the High Court as soon as possible, hopefully
before the baby is born. In Sheetal’s case, of course, bail is urgent, but it
is important to remember that this is not just an injustice to her. It is an
injustice to all the accused who were expecting a chance to have their side of the
story heard. In a country where people accused of masterminding the fixing of
lucrative cricket matches are given bail in no time, why are radical musicians
and performers, one of whom is pregnant, being denied bail? Does justice in
this country depend on one’s bank balance?
Anand Patwardhan is a founding member of the Kabir Kala Manch Defence
Committee.
(As told to Nupur Sonar)
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