With the advent of media in every sphere of human life, even the last bastion of protection from prying eyes – the judiciary – seems to have fallen. Trial by media made famous, or infamous, by the O.J. Simpson murder case has arrived in full regalia in India with a virtual retrial of the Jessica Lal case, where intense protests following a ‘not guilty’ verdict forced the Government to order a retrial. One has the highest respect for the judiciary but the accusation that the media are playing judge, jury and executioner is rooted in a misconception of the role of the media in the new technological age. However, somewhere there should be the limit. The Indian Constitution guarantees fair trial.
The Jessica Lal case struck a chord with middle-class India, which saw it as a classic example of an average family taking on rich and powerful opponents. The trial also exposed the weaknesses of the legal system as the case stretched on for years without any major developments, and one after another, key witnesses turned hostile.
They included Shayan Munshi, a model and a friend of Jessica’s. He first said he had seen the murder happen and that Manu Sharma had fired the gun twice. However, in 2001 he failed to identify Sharma in court, dealing a huge blow to the prosecution. He also said his earlier statement against Sharma should be disregarded because it was written in Hindi, a language he was not familiar with – despite him acting in a Bollywood move where he delivered entire dialogues in Hindi.
The two witnesses who are credited with helping to convict Sharma are Bina Ramani, and her daughter, Malini Ramani, who was also present when Jessica was killed. Bina identified Manu Sharma, Amardeep Singh Gil, Alok Khanna and Vikas Yadav as present at the restaurant. Daughter Malini said she had overheard the conversation when Jessica refused Manu Sharma a drink, which led him to pull out his gun. Both claim to have seen Sharma shoot Jessica. The testimony was corroborated by Bina’s husband, George Mailhot. The Ramanis have repeatedly said that they have received death threats asking them to turn hostile in the case.
Sabrina Lal on the influence of the media in Jessica Lal’s case
Sabrina Lal, in an interview with Daily News and Analysis stated the following:
“Media got us justice”
The media proved to be an extremely powerful force that came to our aid. We are not
influential people. We have no great contacts and have no great money either. It was the
power of the media that enabled us to get justice. When all doors were shut on our faces, it
was the media that came to support us.
The manner in which newspapers and television channels came out in our support was
commendable. Had it not been for the media, people would have never known about how a
family was being denied justice. It was this coverage that made people realise the truth and
come out in protests and demonstrations in support of us.“Media spotlight helps”
It is normally the people of the legal fraternity who have an apprehension with such
vigilantism of the media. They say that the media is not permitted to undertake such tasks
and that it is trying to create a parallel system of its own, thereby in the process
disregarding the legal system.
They claim that all people are innocent till proven guilty and hence such acts by the media
make innocents seem guilty and thus interfere with the judicial proceedings. But one has to
remember that in the end, it is the judge who will decide on cases keeping in mind the
evidence available and not because the media projected any case in a particular manner. I
know that many times a case that the media picks up may be biased towards a particular
side. But then it is the judge who is the final deciding authority. I don’t see any such
complaints against the media when guilty officials are caught accepting bribes.“Media vigilantism is needed”
The system we live in is such that there is rampant corruption everywhere. When the media
exposes corruption, it is welcome. The media is taking a proactive step to weed out the evils
that have crept into our system. It is pressurising the system to be more accountable and
responsible. It is keeping vigilance over our society, ensuring that the truth is out there in
the open and making sure that the voice of the common man and the underprivileged
section is heard. If media scrutiny is forcing the system to be responsive to the common
man then there should be no complaints.
The impact of the media on the case
Had Jessica been some nameless woman in a village would the case and the interest of the
media been sustained this long?
Would the outcome have been the same?
Within a fortnight after Jessica Lal was shot over her refusal to serve drinks, an ice-cream parlour attendant was allegedly shot dead for not stocking a particular ice-cream brand. What happened to that case?
The similarity to the Jessica case was uncanny, except, we don’t care. Or do we? It may be said the media cannot focus on every crime case – it is the job of the state after all. Yet, can it be gainsaid that choices can be revealing? Does the new media play a plutocratic role in this democratic country?
Conclusion
The case was something of a pot-boiler where fashion, high society, crime, political influence and media activism all came together.
It is clearly seen that the media along with texts sent from cell phones (part of the new media) has shaped this particular case and brought justice. We have seen that without it, on several instances, the world would have been denied of social justice. It was the power of masses and the true strength of democratic institution that got the victim justice without the force of violence among the serenity of peace and truth. As Mahatma Gandhi use to say – “Truth is God”.
The word of injustice spread from person to person. The six factors of power played in. The physical force and wealth that tried to lure away the truth was stopped by state action and bureaucratic factors. The social norm of morality kicked in and the idea of truth and justice spread among people like wild fire. The numbers grew and that’s how the nonviolent movement for Jessica Lal murder’s was unravelled and given justice.
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