Legal aid to the Jamia accused and media intervention

BY B.P. Sanjay| IN Media Practice | 30/09/2008

The editorial in the Hindu, Don’t communalise anti-terror fight, is poised to raise many related issues.  The spiral of silence notion in communication suggests that there would be certain repression of expression if people feel that it may not be salient with any particular dominant view. The editorial no doubt raises the issue of legal aid and revolves around the basic principle of the accused being innocent unless proved guilty.

 "The right to legal representation is a vital part of the right to a free trial. Embedded in the idea of providing accused with the means of defending themselves competently is a jurisprudential principle that forms the bedrock of modern law — the presumption of innocence unless the person is proved guilty… The high responsibility of providing "equal justice and free legal aid" to all citizens is enshrined in Article 39A of the Constitution, which mandates the state, through suitable legislation, schemes, or other means "to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities."

Fair enough to argue for legal aid and to see no problem in the Jamia Vice Chancellor Mushirul Hasan’s decision to provide legal aid to the accused. However, a regular reader of the newspaper may not have missed the target of attack. The University anticipating further criticism that it may use funds allocated to it as a Central university initially maintained that it would come from internal resources and has now formally indicated that it will mobilise resources. A legal aid committee will function independently of the University administration without drawing on the resources of the varsity for this purpose. By extension a student’s relief committee will raise funds from staff and students for providing legal aid as and when necessary.

While the BJP’s criticism of the Jamia VC’s response is the peg on which the editorial is written, the newspaper cannot escape the implications of favouring legal aid in a university set up within the framework of the realities of higher education in India in the public domain. In its rush to criticise and defend, the Hindu has perhaps ignored the larger dimension of such a well-intentioned decision. 

There are nearly 300 plus universities in India and many more are coming up. Education is a concurrent subject and higher education is within the jurisdiction of both the Central and State governments. There are many references as to how the appointment of VCs is often based on political considerations. Without prejudice to the incumbents in various universities, it has to be recognised that there are nearly 20 plus central universities and the rest are within the purview of the State governments. So the dynamics of Central and State governments joining this political process is imminent.

Among the many comments on the Net on this episode one rhetorically asked, would the intelligentsia accept if the VC of either Bangalore or Mangalore or any other university in BJP-ruled states mobilise resources for legal defence of the accused in attacks on places of religious worship. The spectrum of  "terror" activities of what is often described as fringe elements of any religion is bound to intensify debates on the extent and nature of legal aid that is possible and desirable to all students accused in a variety of cases including terrorism. The plight of publicly funded institutions and their moral obligation to defend the accused would definitely place severe constraints on resources that are scarce.   Extend it a bit further to other public offices and the scene becomes complex. Mobilisation of resources as an institutional agenda is also problematic, contentious and debatable notwithstanding the politics that surround many issues.

The Hindu editorial in this case seems to be restrictive and does not reflect its otherwise balanced perspectives on other issues. The Jamia decision does figure in other newspapers (more as news items including a Ministry of Human Resource Development defence) as well and is also being debated on the net along predictable frames of reference.

Swapan Dasgupta ,for example, in the Pioneer places the issue in a different perspective albeit critical of the Jamia VC. Recognising the intellectual credentials of the VC he points out that Prof Mushirul Hasan had always placed faith subordinate to his reputation as a man of letters.   In this context, Dasgupta seems to suggest a subtle transformation:

"His combative speech to the students on September 24 is a case in point. According to the report in Times of India (which to my knowledge hasn¿t been contradicted), Hasan urged students to not be defensive about the arrest of two colleagues. "We owe no explanation to anyone except ourselves and to our faith that unambiguously eschews violence." Of course, he added by way of a postscript that "Our commitment is to the rule of law and the Indian Constitution."

However, according to a Jamia press release, the VC made six points condemning terror and violence, protecting the interests of the students, affirming its secular legacy etc. and included the point that Swapan  has quoted  from TOI.

The tragedy as such is now passé. The victims of the blast and their suffering will continue to fill the spaces in the media. Larger public debates have been initiated in the media with politics, role of police, terror law and in this context, the accused as well. In the Parliament attack case and what followed was an intense coverage of the judgment pertaining to Afzal.  Civil society groups spearheaded by Ms. Arundhati Roy anchored their concerns apart from other aspects on legal aid. The Jamia Nagar incident has now brought the university into a different focus.

What is crucially important is that media’s unqualified defence and or opposition may provide unintended justification for other central and state universities as well to provide legal aid to the accused in all such police cases. It can only be defended if there is well accepted "hierarchy" of crimes  and universities decide whom to assist and for what purpose.  Such clarity may elude us in the complexity of terror- related events that are occurring at regular intervals.

B P SANJAY is pro vice chancellor of the Central University of Hyderabad.