There is indeed a very well-known principle
in criminal jurisprudence propounded by Blackstone, an acclaimed authority on
criminal jurisprudence:
"It is
better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer"
Have you ever tried analysing the rationale
behind this principle? Do you know what might have possibly motivated
Blackstone to propound this principle? When the ultimate aim of any system of
criminal jurisprudence is to eliminate and/or control the crime rate, then why
does this principle form the bedrock of criminal jurisprudence of almost all
the civilized nations of the world? Why indeed are the courts encouraged to err
on the side of innocent? It might be interesting to note that this principle
also has religious backing and finds mention is various religious
scriptures.
In order to fully appreciate the rationale
behind this principle, one should note the impact wrong accusation and
conviction has on the psychic of the victim in particular and the civility of
the society at large.
Have
you ever come across a person who has been wrongly accused of the crime he or
she did not commit? Have you seen the emotional trauma that he goes through whilst
trying to swim through the ocean of lies, deceit, humiliation, social boycott
and social shaming? Have you ever come across a person who tries to fight in
vain the deadly battle waged by the combined power of unscrupulous
investigating authority, gradually trudging judiciary and hasty media? To fully appreciate the psychological impact
of wrongful investigation and conviction on an innocent person, I recommend you
to write the following white paper:
I have closely watched the impact of wrongful
investigation on people whom I am very close to. May be destiny is pushing me
to proactively do something about these issues. May be this is a sign, a gentle
nudge by providence. And I must say that I am indeed going to take up this
cause. For I have seen falsely accuse persons being ripped apart by the
combined forces of judiciary, media and investigating authority.
As a part of my fight for this cause, I would
like to narrate the unbelievably tragic tale of Hiren Rathod . After having
closely watched the incidences that transpired in his life, I have reached a
conclusion that there is a monumental task ahead. Let me take the liberty of
drawing your attention the reason why I am so deeply motivated to kick start the
movement for fighting for those who are wrongly accused. Let me tell you the
true story of Hiren Rathod, of what he was and what the evil forces of
dysfunctional social institutions made him out to be.
I knew Hiren for the longest of time
considering the fact that we studied in the same school right from nursery. Not
that we were very close friend, but I do recall him to be a very happy go
lucky, social, boisterous person who was full of life and energy. We were in
different class. However, Hiren was really popular in school on account of his
social persona. He had a good reputation academically and he participated in a
lot of school activities.
As destiny would have it, post class 10th,
our lives took different turn and we took admission in different colleges. I
studied law and got busy with my legal career whereas Hiren took up
engineering. I wasn’t in touch with him during this decade and got to know about
him only through common friends. Therefore, in the year 2010 when I read
certain media reports about Hiren, I was shocked and surprised. However, after
having studied law for five years, and being blessed with a very objective and
detached mind, I instantly knew that something was amiss. After all, being a
lawyer, I know the system too well to believe what is printed in the media. I
do not get drawn by catchy lines for I am minded about the tendency of
investigative journalists of jumping to conclusion without bothering to fully
investigate the matter. I had to do my
own dispassionate research to get to the truth of the matter. Knowing Hiren and
knowing the system, I reserved my judgement.
I therefore decided to get in touch with
Hiren. If he was innocent, it was my duty, as a friend and as a lawyer, to help
him fight this battle. I still recall
the year 2010 clearly. I recall meeting Hiren clearly. And I must admit that I
try to push those pictures out of my sight for they are disturbing indeed. I recall
visiting a man who was broken in body and spirit. I remember the bruises on
third degree torture on his persona. I recall the vacant look in his eye. I
recall the distrusting spirit who was afraid of the very air he was breathing.
This indeed wasn’t the man I knew during school time. It took me a great deal
of convincing to ask him to narrate the incidences. I heard his story, not as a
friend but strictly as a lawyer for a wanted to be objective while appreciating
the facts. I asked him all possible questions to find any gap, any loophole.
Hiren was out on bail. I perused all the case papers to complete my analysis. I
spoke to his then lawyers to get to the root of the matter. During the course
of the next few days, I reviewed all the evidence on record and did my due diligence. I was shocked to note the extent of
miscarriage of justice that happened in this case. It was surprising how the
media published stories by total non-application of mind. Just to quote the
extent of wrongful publication by the press and consequentially tell what the
truth is, it is worth mentioning the following wrongful facts stated in the
media:
(a) Wrong factual information about Hiren Rathod
The press completely misconstrued the facts
on the basis of the concocted version given by the police. At times, some
reports stated his name wrongly as “Hiten Rathod”, at times, some reports
stated his place of residence incorrectly as “Ghatkoper” or “Andheri”. In some
instances, they got the relationship with the deceased wrong. The true facts are that Hiren never resided
in Andheri or Gathkoper. On the contrary, he resided in Dahisar back then. When the press can report such preliminary
information incorrectly, how can one rely on it for reaching conclusion about
anyone?
(b) Wrongful reporting about the reason why Hiren Rathod was apprehended
A lot of papers wrongly stated as follows:
"The deceased's cellphone was traced a
day after her murder on the basis of IMEI number to a dealer in Fort, Mumbai.
The SIM card was destroyed before it was sold. The dealer on interrogation gave
description of the person who sold the phone to him. On the basis of the
dealer’s clues Snehal's boyfriend, Hiren Rathod was apprehended. Hiren Rathod,
a Ghatkopar resident."
Let
me point out the tale of lies in the newspaper report:
(a)
As stated above, Hiren Rathod never resided in Gathkoper. He was residing in Dahisar.
(b) Secondly, Hiren WAS NEVER CAUGHT/APPREHENDED ON THE BASIS OF IDENTIFICATION BY THE
PHONE DEALER OF FORT.
The media should first do a detailed due
diligence, ask all possible questions to the authority prior to wrongly stating
such incriminating facts.
The true and correct facts are as follows:
The Fort Vendor gave the following
description of the man who sold the cell phone to him and who was the probable
killer:
A 25 to 30 year
old man, weatish in complexion who was 5.6 in height and who had a moustache. Hiren Rathod, on the
other hand, was a 22 year old boy back then, completely clean shaven and most
importantly he was 6.4 feet in height. His unusually tall frame is difficult to miss
Hiren. Hiren’s lawyers who got the bail for him infact precisely relied on this
fact to point out the hole in the prosecution story. Hiren’s height was a
saviour! The incident happened in the year July, 2007. The fort deal couldn’t
make a mistake because Hiren is unusually tall. In the identification parade,
the phone dealer DID NOT recognize Hiren as the one who sold the cell phone. .Had that been the case, he would have been
booked immediately in July/August, 2007 itself. However, that was not the case.
Therefore, a lot of false, fictitious and baseless reporting was indulged in by
the reporters. This false reporting leads a lot of readers to wrongly drawn
inference about Hiren.
(c) Course of event that happened post 2007
Hiren
was in India till the year 2008, i.e, for 1 (one) good year after the incident.
Had the phone dealer identified him, he would have been instantly nabbed. The
sketches of the person who sold the phone are available with the authority and anyone
who has an iota of doubt may check for himself.
(d) Voltas Alibi-Strongest Evidence proving Hiren’s innocence
Hiren
had joined Voltas on July 9th, 2007 and the incident of murder occurred
on 19th July, 2007, i.e., just 10 days after his joining. Being on probation, Hiren was very particular
about attending his office. Voltas gave a certificate supporting and
substantiating his alibi. The distance between his office located in Chincpokli
and the place of crime, i.e., Dombivili was almost 2 hours one way. He was in
office from 9am to 5:30pm on 19th July, 2007 and there are enough
material on record with the authorities since 2007 as they conducted
investigation in Voltas as well. As per
the post mortem report, the crime happened between 12:00pm and 6:00pm. From the evidence on record, Hiren was in
office at that stage and it was humanly impossible for him to remain absent
from office for 5 to 6 good hours without being noticed by anyone. The evidence by the company and the
colleagues clearly indicates his presence in the office during the entire
duration. Why will Voltas stand by Hiren? Why will his colleagues, most of whom
who knew him only for 10 days stand by him? There was no personal relation. It
is an MNC and it had not vested interest to protect Hiren. Voltas as an MNC and
Hiren’s colleagues just stood by the truth, which, mind you, calls for a lot of
guts in the face of a prejudiced investigating machinery who was determined to
nail him.
Hiren suffered grave tragedies. He lost his
girlfriend in the year 2007 for which he was wrongly accused without any iota
of evidence. This is because he was an easy scape goat. Whenever a crime is
committed, it is the lovers/husbands/boyfriends that comes under scanner. Many
of them who are wrongly accused have suffered on this account. He tried picking
up the pieces of his life together and went to US in the year 2008, i.e., after
one good year post the incidence. He was about to graduate when he lost his
father in the year 2010.
When
he returned back, instead of being given the chance to mourn, he was subjected
to physical torture by the investigation authorities and mental torture by the
media who did not bother asking the right questions to the authorities. He lost
his father, his mother was compelled to sell the house to pay the huge
education loan and he lost his standing on account of being wrongly accused.
Along with the deceased, Hiren himself has suffered grave injustice in front of
the combined power of media, judiciary and investigating authority. He has lost
faith in God and become an atheist. Had he committed the crime, he wouldn't
have become an atheist. You lose faith only when you are badly shaken.
The
police filed discharged report in the year 2011 and declared him innocent
because they did not have an iota of evidence. Many newspaper articles attempt
to indicate that Hiren was discharged on account of lack of evidence. These
statements are very ambiguous. They try leading the public to believe that if
there was enough evidence, Hiren would have been nailed. They do not realize the
big disservice they are doing to public in general and Hiren in particular. Hiren was discharged because there was
absolutely no evidence at all. The
system owes Hiren Rathod an apology!
I supported Hiren to untangle this web of
deceit and torture. I must say that he is blessed to have an amazing mother and
close set of friends who chose to trust him and helped him to come out of this
hell. Gradually Hiren picked up the
pieces of his broken dreams and tried building his life from scratch.
He had reached ground zero. His dreams were
shattered. His existence was wiped out. He was socially boycotted. However,
with the help of his mother, who herself underwent a living hell and the close
set of friends Hiren chose to fight back.
He selected the profession of counselling
students for higher education. He had no dreams of his own. He chose to revive
his dreams by becoming a part of someone else’s dream. His desire to study and settle in the US was
put to an end for ever thanks to the wrongful investigation. May be he suffered
for a reason. For he chose to assist thousands of those students who nurtured
similar dreams. I see the genuine smile on his face when he is with his
students. I see the same Hiren that I knew during school days when I see him
with his students. The success of his students is his success for he has
consciously substituted his dreams, hopes and vision by their dreams, hopes and
vision.
It pains me to see that some vicious elements
still try putting him down by viewing him through the cruel prism of his painful
past. But I feel that the incidences of his life has created a spirit in him
that shall not fade out.
His life has inspired me greatly. As a
friend, lawyer and wife, I am committed to fight for all those who are wrongly
accused. There are lacs of under trial
languishing in various jails of our country. I am keen fight on their behalf
and start something in the nature of “Innocent Project” for such victims.
I have a long way to go. But the journey of
Hiren’s life encourages me to start the journey with hope and optimism.
