Aryan Khan is not the issue, nor is Shahrukh Khan – Drug Menace Is, VIP Culture Is

For me the arrest of 13 young men, including Aryan Khan, was an alarming case of Drug abuse. During the same time two huge consignments of Drugs were seized from Adani Port and JNPT Port. We saw the sheer scale of drug racket from macro to micro level within a week or two. This was the issue, not that a ‘boy’ of a celebrity VIP had been caught in this mess. However, Mukul Rohatgi’s statement in the court as reported by a TV channel where I was invited, that this case was important because of Aryan’s parents was a sad commentary on our political and legal system. A senior Supreme court lawyer differentiating a privileged family and other commoners; or as a privileged son-in-law had said, mango people, was alarming. We saw a person deep in system acknowledging that law differentiates between VIP and mango people.

 

 

Mr. Rohatgi washed his hands off from the statements made by a senior powerful minister, Nawab Malik that outraged the dignity of women, of family, cast aspersions on the integrity of an officer, and the institution. The despicable way the officer’s caste, religion and paternity etc. dragged in is alarming. The same ‘secular’ minister had also thrown into the ring, checked and unchecked documents to deviate attention from the case. A key witness has gone underground fearing for his life. And a senior lawyer just brushes all this aside!

 

It is not the first mess up. Earlier another drug related case that rose out of alleged suicide or murder of Sushant Singh Rajput was messed up similarly, knowingly or unknowingly under the same government. These red herrings let loose by the senior government functionary finally seem to have derailed the case. The task has been accomplished to accommodate a friend at a huge cost to credibility of constitutional authorities. Sadly, such influence peddling saw a witness murdered in Antila bomb scare case and one witness in drug case seeking asylum in UP fearing his life.

 

 

Were it not a friend, why would a senior government person take all the trouble to defame an officer and an institution? Is it coincidence that his own son-in-law is facing drug related charges? After all, this may not be the first case of a group of young persons are in jail for alleged drug abuse. Why should there be separate treatment for this case? This is the government that has its home minister and star police officer absconding while another specially recruited officer is in jail. This reminds us of the fake cases filed against a TV channel and its editor, and 100s of employees as political vendetta under this government, if one were to read court judgements carefully.

 

 

Instead of worrying about this serious issue of drug abuse and misuse of power, we are discussing inane issues like document leakages by the minister and the agency. People are questioning the agency, not the judge for not giving bail to a drug accused. Even Congress supporters of the VIP don’t remember that the draconian law about drug abuse was brought in by Congress PM Rajiv Gandhi and judiciary is following that law. It can’t be stressed further that agencies should not leak documents and nor should they keep feeding media about crucial cases. I have said it many times. But is it worse than ministers or politicians taking undue interest in cases to protect their friends? People who wanted a BJP minister to resign because there were allegations against his son, are quiet now about Nawab Malik exerting influence to create confusion in the case and get an officer out of way. This is not the first case, nor will it be last, unless there is serious introspection.

 

 

This case has again brought out the readiness of Congress and left ecosystem to save their friends at any cost. They will not mind bending rules, compromising ethics and challenging institutions and judiciary’s credibility to get desired outcomes.

 

This case is a wake-up call on many counts. Biggest of all is the VIP culture that is eating away at our vitality as a nation. Second is serious drug menace. And third is the static judiciary living in colonial times. I am not saying it. It is our CJI who has said that we need to revisit our colonial laws and make changes to ‘Indianise’ our judicial system, using much sharper words.

 

We should not get deviated from serious issues due to noise of the opposition amplified by the media that is a deliberate ploy to obfuscate the real issues.

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