From: madan@cbnewsk.cb.att.com (hemant.madan)
Subject: Re: HELP FIGHT INJUSTICE (more readable version)
Organization: AT&T
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 15:34:14 GMT


	Sorry for all the control characters in my previous posting.
	There was a problem with the TERM type.

	This one is easier to read, I hope.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

	THE DETAILS OF MY CASE ARE BELOW:
	
	
							 July 16, 1992

       From:
       Hemant Madan,
       5534, Ginger Clove,
       Columbus, OH 43213,
       USA.



       Residence Phone:614 868 9912
       Office Phone:   614 860 7401


       Subject:::	Misuse of political, bureaucratic power by a highly 
	                placed government official, for personal reasons.

       Reference:::: FIR (Form no. 24.5(1), First Information Report with
		     a book number of 814, dated July 5, 92 filed by 
		     Anu Madan,	citing a violation of IPC406.

	  Court Handling case::: Court of Justice B.S. Choudhary,
			          at Shahdara, Delhi.


       Dear Sir/Madam,


       My parents have been unfairly and falsely charged with
       offenses	that they never	committed and were held	in Tihar
       Jail for	a week.	They were inmates of Class-C cells and
       lived with hard-core criminals although they were entitled
       to a B-class cell.  Though they are out on interim bail
       until the next hearing on July 21, 92, they could just as
       easily be remanded to custody in	Tihar Jail.  (UPDATE: The 
       interim bail was revoked on 7/21/92 and my parents will be 
       taken into custody and sent to Tihar jail tomorrow 7/22/92). 
       A well connected and highly placed government official has been
       successful in exploiting	his connections	with the local
       administration, and in using them to settle personal scores,
       based on	fabricated charges. What is amazing that this can
       happen now in New Delhi,	right under the	nose of	the higher
       echelons	of the Government and the media.

	The News India dated July 24, 1992 carries my story.
	I would appreciate your writing to either News India
	or any other news paper/magazine about my case and the
	questions it raises (such as the misuse of "Dowry law").
	I am trying to keep the issue alive. I would appreciate
	any help (such as writing to the media) on this matter 
	so that my parents are treated fairly and not detained
	without proper reasons, while the issue is 
	argued in a civil court of law as a routine divorce case.

       Apart from the unfair imprisonment of my	parents, the
       following larger	issues are at stake.  Please take some
       interest	and study the facts surrounding	my case.  Your
       efforts in this regard to bring out the truth shall be a
       significant contribution	to the society and justice, and
       will be remembered and appreciated.

	    Truth, above all.












				  - 2 -



	    Justice, an individual's right to a fair trial and the process 
of law - in the Indian Justice system, pertaining to this case.

	    Horrifying social	and cultural implications, due to the potential
for filing false dowry charges, purely on the basis of personal vendetta in 
any troubled marriage.  Blatant abuse of power by a bureaucrat.
			---------------------------------------

       Therefore, it is	with utmost pain in heart, that	I am
       writing this letter, to share some of the very personal and
       intimate	details	about my family	and my life.  This case	has
       immense social and cultural implications	and will shape the
       attitudes of the	youth towards the Indian system	of arranged
       marriages, for years to come. At	the minimum, if	the case is
       not dealt with fairly, many Non-Resident	Indians	abroad
       (USA, UK	and other places) will have serious doubts about
       whether the Indian style	arranged marriages are worth the
       risk.

       Because there are some very troubling questions about my
       case, please spend a few	minutes	of your	valuable time to
       know my story. To make it easier	for you, I am organizing
       this letter various parts, listed below.

	   Background and fairness concerns in	the Indian Justice
	   system, as it pertains to this case.

	   The	unanswered questions in	this case.

	   Issues and fears that this case raises that	affect the
	   Indian society and the general public.


			    FAIRNESS CONCERNS
			    *****************

       I respect India,	respect	Indian courts of law and its
       learned judges. I respect the law and the police. The law
       and therefore law enforcement officials and public servants
       are expected and	required to be impartial while dealing with
       accusations and complaints.  However, I do harbor some
       rather deep-rooted fears, some of it perhaps irrational,
       about whether the system	can be manipulated and used against
       me for personal gains, by my well connected politically and
       bureaucratically	powerful in-laws. I'll only be pleased if
       in fact these fears turn	out to be simple paranoia, baseless
       or irrational.  But right now, the fears	are very real for
       me and they exist because of the	following facts.













				  - 3 -



	   1.  My father-in-law, Mr. V.	P. Suri, is a highly 
	       influential government official, and is currently 
	       the Commissioner	of Excise, in New Delhi.
 	       At the time of my marriage to his daughter, he 
	       was the Director of Education of Delhi. He has 
	       also held various other administrative positions 
	       in and around Delhi.  Though I don't know it 
	       for a fact, he is rumored to have been involved 
	       in the administration of the Tihar Jail, at some 
	        point in his career.

	       On several occasions, he	has boasted of his power
	       and well	placed contacts	and has	talked about being
	       capable of moving mountains. In fact, during his
	       visit to	USA, when we were all desperately trying to
	       salvage our marriage, he	threatened me and my parents 
	       of dire consequences, if	I did not accept his views 
	       and desert my parents to live with his daughter.
	       These threats, in the context of	current	reality,
	       after my	parents' imprisonment for over a week in
	       Tihar Jail (Cell-C, meant for hard core criminals),
	       assume a	special	significance and worry me a lot.

		    Would the	system have responded so fast, and so 
swiftly, had th complaint been lodged	by an ordinary, average, middle 
class, citizen of India?

		     Would the	complainant's story have been accepted at 
its face value and arrests made in a hurry, particularly so since the FIR
made no mention of imminent physical danger?

		    Is it just a coincidence that the	Suris happen to	
be powerful and	have powerful friends in various branches of the government?

	   2.  The First Information Report (FIR) should normally
	       be filed	as soon	as the alleged crime has occurred.
	       The courts rely a lot on	it. However, if	the
	       complaint (which	in this	case became the	FIR) is
	       delayed,	then it	raises doubts about the	motives
	       behind the delay.  In a nutshell, if a person
	       reports a crime immediately then	he/she has not had
	       enough opportunity to fabricate a story.

	       Interestingly enough, the FIR filed in India makes no mention
 of either the	reasons	behind the six-month delay or provides any 
justifications or explanations for it.

	       Furthermore, was	it a mere coincidence that the
	       complaint was filed on June 15, more than 5 months
	       later, on the day my parents returned to	Delhi from
	       USA? Her	complaint is totally silent about why she
	       waited this long. Was it because she wanted to catch
	       my parents by surprise giving them as little time to
	       defend themselves against these charges ? She
	       obviously succeeded because before my parent's
	       attorney	had time to file for anticipatory bail,
	       they were arrested.

	   3.  In this case, Anu did lodge a report with Columbus
	       Police on Jan 3,	1992, about an alleged incident
	       that took place on Dec 20, 1991.	 But she did not
	       pursue the matter, by choosing not to press charges,
	       thereby denying the Columbus police the opportunity
	       to find the truth.  Why didn't she report it
	       promptly	on Dec 20 or Dec 21, because the rift
	       between had been	occurring for quite some time and
	       she had left the	house once?  The FIR does not
	       explain the following aspects of	her police report
	       in USA.

		     Does the fact that her father arrived from India, 
on Jan 1, 1992 has anything to do with it?

		    What is more important is	why did	she choose not to
press charges and request prosecution?

		      In the American system, any one can file a
		      report against anyone for	anything. No action
		      is taken unless there is an immediate
		      physical danger. However the report does not
		      impact whoever is	being accused, unless
		      charges are pressed or action requested.
		      Complaints are however tracked routinely by
		      computers.  A report is more like	a paper
		      tiger and	is never investigated by the
		      police. A	charge is the real thing that gets
		      investigated and truth is	determined.

		      If Ms. Anu Suri had exercised her	right to
		      request prosecution, when	informed by Police
		      of the difference, the matter would have been
		      investigated in a	matter of days right here
		      in USA. She deliberately chose not to press
		      charges.












				  - 5 -



		    Was it because she knew that her father will not be 
able to manipulate the investigation here and so it will reveal the truth
which will go against the FIR that they	were planning to file in India?

		    Why didn't she go	in for a medical examination, in 
a hospital in USA, if she	had been physically tortured?

		      Affordability was	not an issue at	all, since
		      she had a	valid health insurance coverage	at
		      that time. It would have literally cost her
		      nothing to walk into a hospital and request a
		      medical examination.

	    These questions suggest a more sinister and	devious
	    picture.  While my father-in-law was here to try to	to
	    patch up things to save his	daughter's marriage, was he
	    also laying	the groundwork of how to hit back, with
	    vengeance, in India, if the	patch up did not come
	    through?

	    If things had patched up then nobody else would have
	    come to know about the report with the Columbus police.
	    But	if it did not, then it would serve the purpose of
	    being on record, while at the same time not	letting	me
	    know about it.

	    Literally, by not pressing charges,	they prevented the
	    Columbus police from contacting me to investigate the
	    alleged incident !!  By keeping this as a nasty secret,
	    until they mentioned it in FIR in July 92 (a full six
	    months later), they	also prevented me from preparing a
	    defense against such a false report. What a	devious
	    idea !!!!!!!!!

	    Doesnt this suggest that this whole thing was carefully 
preplanned and executed flawlessly as an act of vengeance?

	   4.  The speed and alacrity with which the police acted
	       in this case raises some	more questions.	The police
	       arrived at my house (in Delhi)  within hours	of 
	       the complaint being filed, and	served my parents  
	       notices to appear before the enquiry officer of the
	       Dowry Cell.

	       After a couple of days they were	asked to come
	       before the enquiry officer on a daily basis.
	       Apparently, the enquiry officer found that the
	       charges about dowry were	unsubstantiated, because no











				  - 6 -



	       case was	registered under the Anti Dowry	Act.

	       Even Anu	has acknowledged in her	complaint that no
	       demands for dowry were made before the marriage.
	       Would a bridegroom's family that	did not	ask for	any
	       dowry before marriage and presented the bulk of the
	       gifts to	her, later on ask for dowry or have these
	       charges been cooked up to get even with the husband
	       and every one of	his immediate relatives, by
	       systematically accusing each one	of them	in the
	       complaint?

	   5.  The main	thrust of Anu's	complaint was that she was
	       harassed	for dowry. If that could not be substantiated 
	       then the enquiry officer should have scrutinized her other 
	       allegations more carefully.
	       That did	not happen.

	       The officer chose to believe the	allegations about
	       embezzlement of property	and asked my parents to
	       return property amounting to Rs.	6 lakhs	to Anu,
	       where the bulk of it even according to Anu were
	       presented to her	by me and my family.

	       A case was registered on	Sunday,	July 5,	for
	       embezzlement of property	and on the same	day they
	       were arrested.  In this way they	preempted the 
	       hearing of application for anticipatory bail that was 
	       scheduled for Monday, July 6.  Does the Delhi
	       Police act with equal alacrity in other complaints
	       about dowry?

	   6.  Why were	my parents not allowed to take their medication 
     	   to Jail with them?

	   7.  Is the crime charged worthy of confinement in C- Class cell
 with	common criminals and murderers?

	       Particularly, when nothing had been proven in a
	       court of	law, my	parents	were at	that time and still
	       are at this moment, innocent.

	       Why was their guilt presumed before trial?

	   8.  The FIR filed is	about money and	immediate return of
	       Anu Suri's "Istridhan" and not about her physical
	       safety.	The FIR	makes no mention of specific
	       physical	threats	made against Anu Suri.	Nor was
	       there any impending danger to her life or physical
	       safety.	Why then were two consecutive bail requests
	       denied?











				  - 7 -



	   9.  Why were	the two	elderly	people,	arrested on false charges, 
not allowed to see or talk to each other and kept separated	at all times?

	  10.  Why were	my parents not allowed to meet any relatives or 
even their own lawyer for five days	in jail?

	  11.  On June 14, 1992	my parents left	for India, from
	       USA.  Upon arrival at New Delhi they were asked to
	       show their passports by some customs official. This
	       was done	even before they had got their immigration
	       or custom clearance done. They were told	by these
	       officials to meet them after claiming their baggage.
	       From this it is evident that the	Customs	Officials
	       were looking out	for them specifically. After
	       claiming	their baggage they were	taken by those
	       officials and asked to declare their items. My
	       parents declared	the things they	were carrying and
	       paid Rs.	6600 in	duty. Then they	were asked by the
	       preventive branch to once again get their baggage
	       checked and this	time they were asked to	pay an
	       additional Rs. 7000. This ordeal	lasted for about 8
	       hours.

	       The fact	that some one was looking for them and recognized 
them b face proves that this whole thing was planned and initiated on at 
someone's behest.
	       The fact	that Mr	V.P. Suri, as the commissioner of
	       excise, was in a	position to do this and	had a
	       motive to do this suggests that he is the person   
	       who master minded all this.            ----------
	       ---------------------------

       From these facts, is it not apparent that Mr. Suri has been
       very successful in exploiting his connections with the local
       administration, and in using them to settle personal scores?

       It is amazing that this can happen now in New Delhi, right
       under the nose of the higher echelons of	the Government and
       the media.

			UNANSWERED QUESTIONS 
			********************

       One thing that is both very disturbing and unique about this
       case is that there are a	very large number of unanswered
       questions about it.  Some of these are:

	   1.  By the very definition, FIR, is the first
	       information report. Which means that it should be
	       filed at	the earliest, as soon as the alleged crime
	       has occurred. It	is my understanding that the person
	       does not	have to	provide	supporting evidence because











				  - 8 -



	       the victim of the crime is likely to be stressed.

	       That did	not happen in this case. Ms. Anu Suri left
	       my home on Dec 12, 91 and left USA on Jan 9, 92.
	       All the alleged crimes could only have occurred
	       prior to	Dec 12,	91.  Why did Ms. Anu Suri wait	a
	       full six	months to file the FIR?	 The delay in
	       filing the FIR, makes her intentions suspect to say
	       the least.  Being a lawyer by profession, she must
	       have known all this. Why	then did she wait?


		o Did Ms. Anu Suri wait, because she needed all
                      that time to fabricate a false story, that at
                      least on the surface would seem coherent, and
                      give her the benefit of doubt?
		o Did Ms. Anu Suri wait, because her true
                      intent was to spring a surprise and throw her
                      unprepared in-laws in Jail, and make them
                      stay there the longest?



	   2.  This case is about whether or not we demanded or
	       received	dowry, because Ms. Anu Suri herself agrees
	       that I and my family did	not demand or take dowry.
	       Ms. Anu Suri, explicitly states the following in her
               FIR (taken from Page-3 of FIR, the sentence
               preceding the last, in the last paragraph of item-
               7):

		 Says Anu Suri:

 		"Before marriage, my parents-in-law had told my
                 parents at their enquiry that neither they
                 expected nor wanted any dowry ..."


	      I	repeat it one more time, for the sake of emphasis.

		Says Anu Suri:

		"Before marriage, my parents-in-law had told my
                 parents at their enquiry that neither they
                 expected nor wanted any dowry ..."







				  - 9 -



	     The Suris have no source of income	outside	of India.
	     Neither do	they have any foreign exchange accounts
	     outside India. Why	will my	family change its stance
	     after marriage and	demand dowry in	rupees after
	     marriage and engage in not	only verbal but	also in
	     physical abuse to get it?

	     The real issue is not dowry demands. The issue is
             whether or not my family changed its values and morals
             and demanded dowry after marriage.  That is why the
             FIR and the motives behind its filing are very suspect
             and the whole claim unbelievable.


	   3.  Anu is a trained skillful lawyer. She once
               confided to me and said that she successfully
               defended a sexual assault case in which the victim
               was a 9-year old child, fully knowing that her
               client was guilty and at fault.  She, according to
               her own admission, won the case and saw nothing
               wrong with it.


	       Such a skilled lawyer who used (or misused) her
	       skills to deny a	9-year old child justice, should
	       definitely know the meaning of FIR, and the
	       importance of time in pressing charges.

	       In her FIR, which she took six months to	write,
	       lacks specifics.	 She did not claim in her FIR, that
	       either I	or my parents threatened her with serious
	       bodily harm or injury.  We did not and she is
	       basically acknowledging that since that was not in
	       the FIR.	This is	definitely not one of those
	       gruesome	violent	bride burning cases. She never
	       faced any serious physical danger, bodily harm or
	       injury during her entire	stay with me or	my family.
	       If she did, an experienced lawyer like her would	not
	       have forgotten to add such serious issues in her
	       FIR.


		 o What exactly did Ms. Anu Suri mean by the
                      term verbal and physical abuse, in her FIR?



       __________

	 - I am	just quoting her words,	a review of the	court
	   records will	reveal if she was ever involved	in such	a
	   sexual assault case.	I am not lying about this and I	did
	   not dream this up.












				  - 10 -


 o Did Ms. Anu Suri, pick vague terms like
                      verbal abuse and physical abuse deliberately,
                      and leave the details to others imagination,
                      just to evoke sympathy?

                    o Did Ms. Anu Suri, use vague terms because
                      that will give her the opportunity to say
                      anything she wants later?

                    o If there was bodily harm done, physical abuse
                      really took place, why did she not seek
                      treatment in a hospital? Why didn't she?

			 At the time, she had complete medical
                      coverage, under my health insurance policy.
                      It would have cost her nothing at all, not a
                      single penny.


		    o Above all, Why did she wait until 1/3/92, to
                      report to Columbus police her claims of
                      physical abuse that allegedly happened  on
                      12/20/92?

                      Why did an experienced lawyer, wait 14 days
                      to report a domestic incident involving
                      physical abuse, to police in USA?  Even then,
                      having gone to the police, why did she choose
                      not to press charges or prosecute?

                    o Why is an alleged abuse that took place in
                      USA, where it could have been prosecuted
                      easily, just by requesting so at the time of
                      filing the complaint, is now being prosecuted
                      in India, after a full six month delay? What
                      are the real motives? This certainly does not
                      seem to be a simple and innocent quest for
                      justice.


           4.  Why were my parents arrested and harassed within
               hours of filing of the FIR in India?


			SOCIAL ISSUES 
			*************


       My case raises a	number of very basic questions.	Answers	to
       these will largely shape	the attitudes of many. The facts of
       my case have been published in a	nation wide electronic
       bulletin	board all across USA, by well meaning friends,
       dismayed	at what	is happening and how the truth is being
       distorted. Consequently,	there may be many people including
       some of India's brightest students and unmarried	bachelors











				  - 11 -



       on various college campuses, who	are following the case and
       may be waiting to learn of the eventual outcome.	 What does
       my case tell these bachelors about the Indian system of
       arranged	marriages? I married a girl chosen by my parents,
       only to find myself in this nightmarish scenario. What
       protection does law offer to all	these youths when they
       marry a girl, against false accusations?


	1.  Is it dangerously easy, in the current system of law
               enforcement, for a greedy woman to marry for reasons
               other than love and commitment, and ask for material
               benefits (Istridhan, alimony and the like) using
               false charges? If and when this happens, is there
               any protection or provision in law to make sure that
               men are protected and people filing false
               allegations are punished appropriately?

           2.  Is man always guilty and the woman always right,
               when the real issue is incompatibility or marital
               dispute?

           3.  Does every man, innocent or not, always have to pay
               a price and get humiliated, if a hostile spouse
               alleges abuse or charges dowry-related mistreatment?

           4.  Is a man guilty unless he is able to prove
               otherwise?

           5.  Can a woman accuse her in-laws of virtually anything
               that suits her fancy and imagination and get away
               with it?

           6.  Is Indian law gender-sensitive? Is the woman somehow
               more trust worthy?

           7.  Where is the society going as a whole?



                            CONCLUSION
			    ***********


       I hereby	request	you, honestly and sincerely, from the
       bottom of the heart, to assist me in making sure	that my
       elderly and innocent parents stay out of	jail, while the
       case plays itself out in	a court	of law in India. They don't
       deserve to be in	Jail, until a court rules against them and
       finds them guilty and the allegations are true.

       It is my	belief that they are being jailed and mistreated in
       the jail, due to	undue influence. They are being	used as
       live-baits to force my return to	India.












				  - 12 -


       I am extremely fearful of what awaits me if I return now,
       because I have now fully understood the meaning of my
       father-in-law's boasts about his ability to move mountains
       and his threats about dire consequences to me and my family,
       at all costs..


       Please help me and my family to get a fair trial, in the
       Indian court of law. As citizens	of India, we deserve that
       much.

				       Thanks.


       Yours Sincerely,



       (Hemant Madan)
       (July 16, 1992)


	UPDATE: My parents have been refused bail on July 21 again
       and they will be in jail again on July 22..






































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