After the series of arrests of voices of dissent on Facebook, the junta has grown cautious. But where grown men fear to tread, one lone woman prosecutor has boldly declaimed against a government agency.
Rohini Salian, Special Public Prosecutor in the case related to the Malegaon 2008 blasts in which four Muslims were killed during Ramzan and in which Hindu extremists are the accused, has said that over the past one year, since “the new government came to power,” she has been under pressure from the National Investigation Agency(NIA) to go “soft” in the case.
Soon after the NDA government came to power last year, she said, she got a call from one of the officers of the NIA – the agency investigating all the alleged Hindu extremist cases – asking to come over to speak with her. “He didn’t want to talk over the phone. He came and said to me that there is a message that I should go soft,” Salian told The Indian Express.
Matters came to a head this month, on June 12, she said, when just before one of the regular hearings in the case in the Sessions Court, she was told by the same NIA officer that “higher-ups” did not want her to appear in the court for the State of Maharashtra and that another advocate would attend the proceedings.
Salian, a leading prosecutor who has handled important cases like the J J shootout, Borivali double murder, the Bharat Shah case and the Mulund blasts amongst others, said: “The meaning (of that message from the officer) is very clear – don’t get us favourable orders.”
Possibly, the ‘higher ups’ hadn’t bargained on such a voluble or tough prosecutor, who would make their intentions public. In that case, they got more than they bargained for. Rohini Salian, 68 is one of the toughest public prosecutors, both among men and women and in Maharashtra she is often favourably compared to Ujjwal Nikam, the Maharashtra government’s choice for special public prosecutor in several high-profile cases, including the 26/11 terror attack and the Shakti Mills gang-rape of 2013.
Salian has already faced trouble with this case in the past, especially in trying to get bail denied for Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the accused in the Malegaon blasts. A special MCOCA court ruled that the stringent Act did not apply against ‘Hindu extremist’ organisations. She did not give up then, she moved the high court to get Thakur’s bail denied.
With her conviction rate being so high, the ‘higher ups’ have now removed her from the Malegaon blast case possibly to appoint a weaker prosecutor in place who will turn the tide of the case in favour of the extremists.
When asked how she saw the case proceeding further, Salian said, “For a layman or a fresh prosecutor it’s very difficult – one cannot do anything. Maybe they want to loosen it and ultimately lose the case because they can’t withdraw it.”
Regardless of the fact that Salian has been removed from the case, it’s a matter of admiration that she did not let this issue of underhanded skull duggery on part of the NIA to be brushed under the carpet. By going public with the issue, Salian has ensured that if the case turns in favour of the extremists, the NIA, the government would have some tough questions to face from the global community.
Where grown men fear to tread, Salian boldly declared that she will not walk quietly into the night.
Image Courtesy: BCCL
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