Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Another turnaround

That Zahira Sheikh, key witness in the Best Bakery case, through her continued flip-flops, made a mockery of the judicial system is undeniable. She has reinforced it with yet another turnaround, saying she should be handed over to the Gujarat police. If she is being ill-treated by the Mumbai police, as she has alleged, the court should ensure that her rights are not violated. Shifting her to Gujarat cannot be a solution. Her demand should be rejected and she should be informed that the judiciary cannot function in the way she wants.

Zeenat Malick,
New Delhi

There are many who have expressed the view that the punishment given to Zahira is too harsh. But hostility of witnesses due to threats or allurements is a major cause for the failure of the criminal justice system to punish the guilty.

Lenience in this matter, therefore, will only lead to strengthening the forces that undermine the administration of justice. There is no question that Zahira tried to subvert the judicial system, betrayed the victims of the Best Bakery massacre, and levelled false allegations against her own benefactors, to the benefit of the accused. Such acts cannot be condoned or ignored by the court.

G. Radhakrishnan,
Thiruvananthapuram

As a woman betrayed by her own neighbours, witness to her close family members being brutally killed, and receiving continuous death threats, how can Zahira remain stable? Under such circumstances, anyone is bound to come under pressure. The judiciary has wronged her by putting her in a lockup where she is again undergoing trauma.

Md. Kashif,
New Delhi

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