"It Is Good Aryan Khan Got Bail, What About The Other 2 Lakh Bail Applications Pending?:Justice Madan Lokur

He was speaking on 'Encounter' Killings In India' at the Release of 'Extinguishing Law In Life: Police Killings And Cover-Up In The State Of UP' (a report by Youth for Human Rights Documentation, Citizens Against Hate and People's Watch).

On October 2, NCB's zonal director Sameer Wankhede led a team of officers for a raid at the International Terminal of Mumbai Port Trust from where the Cordelia Cruise liner was to depart for Goa. Eight people were detained after the NCB allegedly seized intermediate and small quantities of cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy), charas and Rs 1,33,000 cash. Khan, together with Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were the first to be arrested. They were booked under sections 8(c) read with 20b (purchase), 27 (consumption), 28 (attempt to commit offence), 29 (abetment/ conspiracy) and 35 (presumption of culpable mental state) of the NDPS Act. On October 20, a special NDPS Court of Judge VV Patil had rejected their bail pleas, stating that a prima facie case of conspiracy and illicit drug trade is made out. The Special judge had observed that WhatsApp chats prima facie reveal that accused Aryan Khan is dealing in illicit drug activities for narcotic substances regularly. Allegedly, 6 gm charas was recovered from the shoes of Arbaaz Merchant and 5 grams from Munmun Dhamecha's room. No recoveries were made from Aryan Khan. However, NCB has charged Khan and Dhamecha with conscious possession. Finally, on October 28, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Khan, Merchant and Dhameecha in connection with the alleged cruise ship drug case. Khan, represented by Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, argued that his arrest was made in sheer violation of Article 22 of the Constitution, inasmuch as he was not informed about the correct grounds for arrest. He also denied allegations of "conscious possession" of contraband which was recovered from his friend Arbaaz (6gms charas).

"You will be surprised- I checked this morning that there are 28 lakh cases that are pending where the accused is absconding! And if each case has only one accused person, then you have 28 lakh people who are absconding! What is the justice delivery system doing about it?", he asked.

"You have 22 lakh witnesses who have not appeared in court. Cases are being adjourned. What is the judiciary doing about it?...Encounter is supposed to be the last stage. But as per me, there is one more stage after that- when the person, the victim, goes missing completely. We are talking about the fourth stage and this is the kind of justice which is perhaps being delivered", he continued.

"2.95 crore criminal cases are pending in the trial court. How are we ever going to go through them? People are going to get fed up. Then they will say 'I will take the law in my own hands'. Then you have a bigger problem!", urged Justice Lokur. However, he stressed repeatedly that "None of this is the justification for encounter killings, for people being picked up, for disappearances"

"I think it might be too late. We have reached a very critical point. There does not seem to be any improvement...Must the prosecution oppose everything? If somebody has Parkinson's and wants a straw to drink water (Late Father Stan Swamy), it has to be opposed? Why?Can you keep people in custody without producing them before the magistrate for more than 24 hours? We saw that happening a few weeks ago. We read in the newspapers about 700 people being arrested in one state... It is just frightening...The judiciary has to do something, the government has to do something", he continued.

Justice Lokur asserted, "The stage for reforms is over; the entire judicial system needs a complete overhaul. The discussion has to be a much broader, wider one on where we go from here. Somebody has to wake up as to what is the status of human rights in the country! The institutions need to be strengthened- the judiciary, the police and the prosecution. It needs an understanding that there is something called human rights, which everybody has. Unless that message is sent across, unless they realise their responsibility under the Constitution of India, this thing will go on, there will be more and more encounter killings. One state was bad enough, the other state also said 'we will also do this'. The third state will now say 'what about us? Let us also indulge in encounter killings'. You have three states, four states, five states, encounter killings everywhere. It has to stop and it has to stop now!"