Court cases have always fascinated the common man who depends on the media, print and electronic, to update and explain the jargon. “Red Handed: 20 Criminal Cases That Shook India”, a Rupa publication, co-authored by Souvik Bhadra and Pingal Khan attempts to bring the true accounts behind several high profile cases to the reader who need not have specialised knowledge of law. The fact that both have a law degree from National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata and are practising lawyers lends weight to the publication.
“Mr. Kapish Mehra of Rupa during a chat on a flight mentioned they had an idea to publish a book dealing with famous cases which should be written by an advocate to ensure that it is authentic and simultaneously be neither boring nor sensational. The focus he said had to be on facts, investigation while specifying if the allegations levelled were substantiated in the court or not,” explains Souvik as to how the book came into being.
The mélange of cases presented in “Red Handed…” pertain to all kinds of criminal activity –– from terrorism to crimes against women, and white-collar crimes to political murders. So it has the Dhananjoy Chatterjee, Ajmal Kasab, Harshad Mehta, the Best Bakery, Telgi stamp paper, Sanjay Dutt and Parliament attack cases among others. According to Souvik, the selection was restricted to the timeframe of last three decades to enable the readers to be able to recollect and connect to them.
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The book brings to fore the role played by media and its importance. “In the Priyadarshini Mattoo and Jessica Lal case, without the media involvement and the way they highlighted the two cases, it would have not reached the stage it has,” comments Souvik. “Having said that, I would like to specify that the trial by media is not a good trend. It is fine where judiciary is failing but reaching at a judgment even before the trial is not appreciable in the civil society which has a specialized organ trained to make these types of decisions.”
The book provides easy definition of certain legal terms, e.g. direct and circumstantial evidence with the objective of enabling the reader to understand them and their usage in the judgment. This helps in appreciating the rationale behind the judgment. Every story ends with author’s note summarising the case and presenting their take besides beginning with a quotation providing the reader the basic idea of the narrative.
Commenting on a recent trend among the advocates to boycott representing an accused in a case, Souvik says, “Everyone has a right to proper representation. Boycott defeats the entire process and the idea of fair trial. In fact, we are supposed to represent everyone as long as it is within our capability.”
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Having been batch mates and working together has created a mutual understanding which helped the two lawyers to pen this book. They are already working on an academic book on law. “We complement each other,” says Souvik.