Jessica Lal, a model, was murdered in 1999 in front of 300 people by Manu Sharma for refusing to serve him alcohol after the bar was closed. She was the celebrity barmaid at a party comprising of the Delhi glitterati. Over the years there were trials after trials and one by one the entire eyewitness turned hostile leading to the acquittal of all the suspects. Manu Sharma is a free man thanks to the judicial system of our country which relies on unflinching evidence rather than circumstantial evidence. Jessica Lal was also let down by her so called friends who refused to testify for her. I hope they can sleep in peace now that they have been collectively influential in freeing a murderer!!!
The media has unanimously denounced the verdict. NDTV has gone as far as starting a SMS poll where Indian junta can join hands with the channel to petition to the President for a new trial in the Jessica Lal case. The chance to make a statement quickly and easily seems to have struck a chord with the public. This SMS poll has gotten everyone from students to film stars to express their outrage on the verdict! People seem to like having the opportunity to vent some steam about the burning issue!
Will it work? I have heard that Delhi High Court has ordered clarifications in the case and transfer of the investigating officer. The opinion poll may or may not have been vital in this case. Will NDTV's efforts go to waste in getting Jessica justice? Or is it that NDTV is eyeing a share of the SMS poll pie which so far has been associated with game shows and competitions?
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3 comments:
ya... even i wonder if NDTV is really trying to help, or is it just that its looking at making money from the SMSs.. infact, if it really wanted to help, then y did it have to keep a number like 6388, sending a msg to which costs more than sending a msg to an ordinary non-commercial number?! we shud dig a lil more into this... NDTV has started more campaigns like this one, wherein they re asking ppl to participate in the petition...
anothere thing that i wanted to know is, how much is filing the petition actually gonna help? they might jus file the petition and leave it at that... its gonna earn them damn good publicity.. so al this could be a clever PR campaign of NDTV... in case anyone reading this knows more on this...or feels im wrong, then i'l be more than happy to know the truth..
Namrata Arya
You are right Namrata...if making money wasn't the criteria, NDTV could have used a non-commercial number to take in public petition. The last I heard was that it wasn't a very successful operation. The media has since moved on to more "current" topics. I wonder if Jessica will ever get justice??!!
I don't agree with the denouce of verdict by news channel. A minor percentage of Indian population has access to media therefore the protest raised in case is 'protest of a specific class' that didn't constitute public opinion.
Judiciary must work on the basis of facts and evidences. If evidences and datas are in favor of the accused the judge must give judgement in the favor of accused irrespective to public opinion or MORALITY.
I have full support for Manu Sharma not becuase i don't consider him criminal. I know the fact that he has commited crime but on the other hand, he is able to prove that he is innocent in the language of judiciary.
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