Former Judge of Madras High Court K. Chandru on Saturday expressed grave concern over the dangerous trend of social networking sites holding virtual trials over cases like the recent murder of young IT professional S. Swathi in Chennai.
Addressing a Human Rights Workshop for the students of Tagore Arts College organised by ‘Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer Centenary Committee’ and the Tamil Department of the college, Mr. Justice Chandru said it should be left to the courts to establish whether a person is guilty or not.
“Even before a judge declares a person accused, people start using social networking sites to sit in judgment and draw inferences and conclusions. Today, many people start demanding capital punishment even before the case is heard in the courts. There are very few people who raise their voice against capital punishment,” he said.
It is the responsibility of the police to find the accused and individuals should not take to social media to jump to conclusions and make judgments, Mr. Justice Chandru said.
Commemorating the contributions of Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, Mr. Justice Chandru said that Krishna Iyer consistently worked towards abolishing capital punishment. It is found that a majority of those subjected to capital punishment are poor people who are unable to afford a competent lawyer or hail from backward and oppressed sections of society.
Stressing that mere inclusion of human rights education in school syllabus will not help serve the purpose of raising consciousness on fundamental rights, he said seeking education on human rights should be a voluntary exercise. “If human rights education becomes part of the school syllabus, it will be forced on students and they will start studying human rights from the point of view of examination. This method will not make them understand the value of human rights education,” he said.
Mr. Justice Chandru said that in a country where Dalits are not allowed to own a male dog and girls are prevented from pursuing higher education, it is hard to bring in equality. He said it was important to build an organisation and not just a political party to uphold human rights and equality.
He emphasised that these organisations should involve people in their struggle and make them understand the importance of human rights.
Justice Chandru’s book ‘Ambedkar Oliyum Yenadu Teerpum’ was released on Saturday at the workshop.
