— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

IN SUPPORT OF ZAHIRA: A delegation coming out after meeting President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in New Delhi on Thursday to appeal for clemency to Zahira Sheikh.

NEW DELHI: Women activists and citizens on Thursday met President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam here to appeal for clemency to Zahira Sheikh, who has been imprisoned for contempt of court in a Gujarat riots case.

The Supreme Court on March 8 handed her one-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 50,000. Freezing of her accounts for three months, as ordered by the court, may effectively rule out the possibility of Zahira paying the fine, resulting in another year of imprisonment, the delegation said in a petition.

Zahira Sheikh was also sentenced to three-month imprisonment for perjury by the trial court.

Perhaps for the first time in the history of post-independence Indian judiciary that such a harsh punishment for contempt was given to someone, who herself is a survivor of the Gujarat violence, the delegation said. She was penalised to deter witnesses turning hostile, without considering the context that caused hostility. It was likely that she could not bear the burden when she became an icon of the multiple injustices that marked the Gujarat violence, the petition said.

Even though Zahira repeatedly changed her statements, her ``hostility'' to the prosecution was a product of surviving in a highly hostile and insecure environment, particularly in the absence of a witness protection programme or rehabilitation. While the court punished Zahira, it did not pass similar stringent orders against politicians such as Madhu Srivastava, who intimidated her to change her testimony even though this fact was brought on record. "It is in the larger interest of society that we should ensure that the instigators of such terrible violence are punished in future and the fate of Zahira is not repeated, by providing safety and security to victims and witnesses who are in vulnerable positions like her," the delegation said.

Appealing to the President to exercise his power under Article 72 of the Constitution and show mercy to Zahira, the delegation said this action would help to reopen scores of cases in which a ``compromise'' was forced by coercing witnesses to turn hostile in court.

300 signatories

The petition carried more then 300 signatures including those of eminent activists, lawyers and academics such as Indira Jaising, Mihir Desai, Harsh Mander, Jayati Ghosh, Vrinda Grover, Uma Chakravarti, Farah Naqvi, Upendra Baxi, Nandita Das, K.G. Kannabiran, Anand Grover, Veena Das, Usha Ramanathan and Nandini Sundar.

About 20 women and civil rights groups have supported the petition. The four-member delegation included Ms. Jaising, Prof. Jayati Ghosh, Mr. Mander, Ms. Vrinda Grover and Ms. Chakravarti.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail