by Ravi Dabral
A voter asked, “Your ashram volunteers and party workers are already doing good work by improving income levels and standard of living in villages. Why do you want to join dirty politics?”
The party volunteer replied, “The basic objective of both social service and politics is the same, namely public welfare. The only plus point in politics is that you have control over resources like natural resources, taxpayers’ funds and borrowed funds, law and order, role in making plans, policies and laws, and can serve the society on a mass scale and in a sustainable manner.”
A voter asked, “Sir, why are Ashram volunteers involved in this election campaign? What is the benefit for them?”
The party volunteer replied, “Ashram volunteers are doing this as part of welfare meditation to purify the soul. Instead of doing soul purification in classroom settings at the ashram or alone in their home, they are doing this in the field following welfare meditation route not only to benefit themselves but also to benefit the society at large.”
Another voter asked, “Sir, this welfare meditation seems to be interesting. How can we learn this meditation? Do we have to go to any ashram to learn this?”
The party volunteer replied, “There is no need to go to an ashram to learn welfare meditation. You can do this in your personal life by helping the needy. There are two stages in welfare meditation—self-reform and social reform. That is, first you need to be alert and conscious about your natural, civil and voting rights through the self-reform process; and after that as part of social reform, you can make others aware. For example, in the current situation you can visit nearby villages to convince farmers to vote for HWP’s candidates by sharing your success story about the increase in your income levels and improvement in your children’s education level through smart village development model.”
The voters collectively and confidently said, “Thank you, Sir, we will surely do that.”
There were many such questions asked by voters. Volunteers prepared a list of fifty FAQs with answers including the candidate’s brief profile and election manifesto, and circulated it among the voters through ashram volunteers and villagers who were willing to do welfare meditation.
45
The Election Campaign
A ll Human Welfare Party (HWP) supporters were holding their breath as the Election Day was drawing nearer. Meanwhile, Col. Pandey and his team gave financial data about other corrupt politicians. As was expected, almost all the politicians had earned massive amounts through corrupt practices.
Volunteers were discussing what could be the reason behind this? Is it because of flexibility in the constitution that anyone can contest an election, or is it because of no control and supervision mechanism at the institutional level which is meant to curb the powers of corrupt politicians? Or is it because until charges are proved in the court of law, no one is considered guilty, and even someone who is a criminal or lawbreaker can become a lawmaker? Volunteers had no time to think, discuss and debate on all these shortcomings of judiciary and democracy, and lacunae in the constitution.
The need of the hour was to work at the grass root level to change the mindset of voters. The blame game is the easiest way to stop self-change and not to change the corrupt system, thus affecting the progress of the nation. The blame game is the domain of the politicians who always accuse the opposition through their expertise in oratory skills. There is a misconception in the minds of the public that whoever gives the best speech is the best leader. The bitter truth is that lectures, speeches, debates, discussions, rosy election manifestoes, and good oratory skills of politicians wrapped attractively in false promises have not resolved the basic issues since independence. Now the time had come to work and only work at the ground level of the economy benefitting farmers and poor people to change the corrupt political and economic system.
Volunteers started circulating data on the wealth of politicians in the various constituencies. Some politicians as was expected made a hue and cry, and their party’s spokespersons, as usual, started barking on parrot news channels saying that it is a dirty game being played by a newly formed party. They threatened HWP party candidates that they would file defamation cases against them, but HWP candidates were not worried. They were confident as they had solid proof (courtesy Col. Pandey and Captain Singh) against these corrupt politicians.
There was a positive word of mouth publicity for HWP candidates, particularly among farmers. Reputed political parties tried to manipulate voters through different tactics, as usual, making false and unrealistic promises. Since the independence of the country, they had repeated false promises many times in their manifestoes but never fulfilled them. Offering freebie schemes, subsidies, free distribution of alcohol and money, and using the casteism card was common for them. HWP volunteers worked day and night to educate, alert and awaken the voters about their voting rights and responsibilities towards Mother Nature and the next generation.
Finally, the Election Day arrived. Everybody was excited.
The counting of votes started early in the morning. Volunteers’ and supporters’ heartbeats and pulse rates were high as it was not only the result day for the party candidates but also result day for all of them who had worked hard day and night for the last few months. Finally, in the evening the counting was over, and the results were announced.
In this election, the Human Welfare Party (HWP) had contested on fifty seats and won twenty. This number was low but encouraging.
The good news was that politician Kamal Kishor Rawat had lost his seat. Suraj took his revenge on him through social reform strategy as part of cleaning the overall corrupt system. Now, the outcome of revenge through legal recourse was pending in court.
The earlier ruling party of Mr. Rawat won only eighteen seats as compared to fifty seats in the previous election. The second established national party won twenty-seven seats. Other small regional parties including independent candidates won five seats.
To form the government, a majority of thirty-six seats was required. No party had the required number to form the Government. There were chances of forming a coalition government. HWP elected retired school Principal Mr. Ved Prakash as the leader of the party. There was a unanimous consensus that HWP would support the political party with twenty-seven seats to gain experience in politics and running the government, on the condition of getting minimum five ministries—agriculture and rural development, finance, infrastructure development, tourism and education. By evening, the leader of the majority party called Ved Prakash sir to join as a coalition partner to form the government.
Kamal Kishor Rawat and other candidates were giving interviews on news channels saying that HWP candidates had won the election by showing fake data about farmers’ progress and about the illegal wealth of politicians. They accepted the public mandate but said they would soon file defamation cases against HWP candidates. Nowadays, filing defamation cases has become a fashion and norm for powerful people to harass anyone who is against them particularly activists and honest journalists. Kamal Kishor Rawat looked very frustrated while giving his interview on his favourite puppet news channel FNC.
Finally, the coalition government was formed, and HWP got the desired ministries. All volunteers were happy that their idea of believing in welfare meditation had worked successfully. The route of self-reform, social reform and political reform to clean the corrupt system is challenging but achievable by working at the root level of the economy rather than oratorical skills making unrealistic false promises as done by the corrupt politicians.
That day Suraj realised that this is real journalism. As journalists what do they do? They highlight social, economic and political issues, but to whom? To the innocent public or to corrupt politicians and bureaucrats who will never resolve issues for reasons best known to them.
There are around a thousand news channels in India. What have they been doing, for so many years? They repeatedly highlight the same issues to the public for the sake of TRP and ad
vertisement income, but without any concrete solutions to improve the lives of the general public.
In a democracy, the role of media is to raise the real voice of the innocent public by asking questions to the establishment, but unfortunately, this media voice is bought by corrupt politicians and MNCs for their propaganda and to sell products through news channels.
The public need to be informed about the real difference between media and journalism. Nowadays, media has become a dirty business having anchors and reporters as salespersons to increase the TRP while the profession journalism is the real fourth pillar of democracy. Journalism can be a big contributor to spreading awareness among the masses and eliminating corrupt practices through white magic and reforms in the country.
The scope of journalism should be broadened by highlighting issues and ensuring conclusive solution in a time-bound manner to uphold the true objective of democracy and the spirit of the constitution – the welfare of the public.
46
Art of Cross-Examination
F inally, it was 15th March, and Suraj and Vijay had to appear in court to attend defamation, bank loan default, and insurance fraud cases. This time Gulshan looked confident as he had all facts and evidence which were collected with the help of Col. Pandey and Captain Singh as per the guidance from retired Judge Mr. Madaan.
While entering the courtroom, Mr. Khurana looked at them with a cunning smile. They saw Mr. Rawat, Mr. Thapar, Md. Siddique, Mr. Mishra, and Sanjay already sitting in the courtroom waiting for the Judge. Representatives from the insurance company were also present.
The court hearing started, and the Judge asked, “Mr. Khurana, please present your charges about which you informed the court in the last hearing.”
Khurana said, “Your Honour, regarding the insurance matter, the general managers (GMs) of the insurance companies have submitted their statements and affidavits that Suraj and Vijay have defrauded the insurance companies.
About the second allegation of using the dead body in the car accident, we have come to know that the body was actually taken from the mortuary. Today the person in charge of the mortuary department is available in court, to state the truth.
For our third allegation, apart from proofs submitted earlier, it is a proven fact that due to doctored sting operation CDs, Mr. Rawat has lost this election. Mr. Thapar’s company’s share prices have gone down further in the last few months. Hence, our defamation cases against Suraj are valid.”
The Judge asked Gulshan to present his arguments.
Gulshan said, “Your Honour, I will present facts and evidence one by one.
Firstly, yes, there is no doubt that the insurance claims were taken after showing Suraj’s death certificate. It cannot be challenged that the death certificate was fake or manipulated as it was issued by government authority.”
Gulshan continued speaking, “It is a fact that Vijay and Priya claimed the insurance amount believing Suraj to be dead. Now Suraj is alive, and he has agreed to return ₹ 50 lakh to the life insurance company and ₹ 5 lakh to the car insurance company, with a request to give him enough time on humanitarian grounds as Suraj has to find a job to get a regular income.”
This time Gulshan’s body language and facial expressions were showing him to be an experienced lawyer. He was looking at Mr. Khurana straight in his eyes.
The Judge asked the GMs of both insurance companies, “Do you agree with this request, that if you get back your money, then there will be no fraud cases against Suraj, Vijay, and Priya?”
Both GMs looked at Mr. Khurana.
Khurana said, “Your Honour, the allegation of these insurance companies is about fraud. Even if Suraj agrees to return the amounts, the fraud cases will still be there.”
The Judge said, “Mr. Khurana, let me hear an answer from these gentlemen, whether they want the insurance money back or want Suraj and Vijay to go to the prison.”
The GMs said, “Sir, if we get our funds back, then there is no case from our side, and we shall withdraw the fraud cases. For us getting back the money is important.”
The Judge said, “All right. Both parties can do an out of court settlement and decide mutually about modalities of returning the claimed insurance amounts. Please keep in mind Suraj’s financial condition.”
On hearing this judgement, Suraj, Vijay, Seema, and Gulshan heaved a sigh of relief.
Khurana and his clients were disappointed. They were staring at the GMs of the insurance companies.
Gulshan said, “Your Honour, similarly for the home loan and car loan, my client agrees that he owes money to these banks and is ready to return it, but of course on a deferred payment basis given his present financial condition.”
Gulshan continued, “Your Honour, about the third allegation of taking the dead body from mortuary, I would to like to pose a few questions to the mortuary in-charge.”
Gulshan confidently asked the mortuary in-charge, “What is the procedure to bring a body inside the mortuary?”
The mortuary in-charge replied, “Sir, generally unclaimed bodies come to our centre either through police or from hospitals.”
Gulshan asked, “Now tell this court how the body goes out from your centre. What are the procedures and formalities?”
The in-charge replied, “After keeping the body for a few days, a funeral is conducted at the cost of the mortuary. Sometimes dead bodies are sent to the hospital for post-mortem or to medical colleges for teaching students the intricacies of the human body.”
Gulshan asked, “Whose body was that as per mortuary records?”
The in-charge replied, “Ramesh Sehgal. The City Hospital staff sent that body to our centre after removing the body’s vital internal organs. When we enquired from hospital staff, they said that after the death of Mr. Sehgal in hospital, the family members of Mr. Sehgal had not paid ₹ 20 lakh hospital charges, so City Hospital had sold his vital internal organs to settle its bills.”
Gulshan said, “Your Honour, these are the documents which show that City Hospital belongs to Mr. Thapar and Mr. Rawat. Both are partners in this hospital. We can confidently say that it was easy for Mr. Thapar and Mr. Rawat to arrange a dead body for staging an accident.”
Gulshan further added, “Sir, we have the mortuary centre’s CCTV footage showing two hospital staff taking the dead body to the car parking area.”
Gulshan submitted CCTV footage in a CD to the Court. Hearing this revelation, Mr. Khurana, Mr. Rawat, Mr. Thapar, and Mr. Mishra were shocked.
The Judge said, “Prima facie it looks that there is no proof that Suraj and Vijay took the dead body to use in a car accident to claim insurance money.”
Khurana stood up and said, “Your Honour, I would like to highlight some points in this case.”
The Judge said, “Mr. Khurana, let us wait for the investigation reports and CCTV footage test reports. Then you can present your arguments.”
Gulshan said, “Your Honour, now I would like to address the fourth allegation of defamation.”
Gulshan said, “Your Honour, it is not true that Mr. Rawat lost the election because of doctored CDs. I would like to prove this with some facts and evidence.
Firstly, I am giving you a test report from another government testing laboratory certifying that the sting operation CDs submitted earlier were genuine.
Secondly, I have a CD in which there are recordings of news telecast on different news channels where Mr. Rawat is clearly saying that he lost the election because of false wealth and property documents showed by Human Welfare Party candidates during the election campaign. Your Honour, we have copies of all these financial documents to prove illegal wealth accumulated by these accused persons claiming reputation loss due to the sting operation CDs.”
Khurana stood up and said, “Objection, Your Honour. My clients have no illegal wealth; their income is from legal and justified sources.”
The Judge said, “Objection overruled, let Mr. Narang complete his arguments. Mr. Narang, you may pl
ease continue.”
Gulshan continued saying, “Thank you, Your Honour. We have records from the income tax department, property registrar’s office, immigration department, travel agents, jewellery shops, Registrar of Companies, Indian and foreign bank account statements, credit card statements of these gentlemen, and wealth records of their relatives and family members including their mistresses.” Hearing the word mistresses everyone present in the court started laughing and whispering.
The Judge said, “Order, order. Please maintain silence in the court.”
Gulshan continued saying, “These documents prove that Mr. Rawat, Mr. Thapar, Mr. Siddique, and Mr. Mishra are not only partners in many ventures, but also they have earned huge amount of undeclared and undisclosed black money as compared to the income shown in the tax returns that they have filed.”
Khurana said, “Your Honour, this is not fair; please allow me to counter this allegation.”
Gulshan confidently and loudly said, “Mr. Khurana, please behave nicely and respect the decorum of the court. Let me complete first. Learn to wait for your turn, I have not yet completed.”
Everybody was amazed at Gulshan’s confidence level, that too in front of a prominent criminal lawyer like Mr. Khurana. This shows that when your homework, investigation, and research work are up to the mark, and you know the art of fact presentation, evidence collection and cross-examination, then you can beat any lawyer, and it does not matter how prominent and influential that opposition lawyer is.
The Judge hiding his smile said, “Please continue, Mr. Narang.”
Gulshan said, “We have all the evidence that they have undisclosed wealth much more than their official resources or earning capacity. We have made inquiries about the black money that these people have in Indian and foreign bank accounts, and very soon will produce evidence in this court. We have evidence showing how Sanjay got ₹ 1 crore in his father’s bank account to become a hostile witness.”