Rs. 31 crore and counting

Rs. 31,000,000 is the amount that the Maharashtra government has spent in keeping Ajmal Kasab safe to face trial. Its anyone’s guess how much more will be spent before its Kasab’s turn to be hanged (provided death is what he’s sentenced to.)

The Times of India reports that before Kasab, the final fate of 50 other convicts serving death row needs to be decided. Obviously, there is no law that can prevent the government from jumping the line and deal with Kasab first. But being a democracy, our home minister Mr. Chidambaram has assured that his ministry will dispose of the cases on a “first come, first served basis. 

If Mr. Chidambram said this fearing a backlash by other people in the queue, then he need not worry. This, perhaps is the only queue in the world in which people would not mind being overtaken by others behind them.

Others on this list include people responsible for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the attack on the Indian Parliament amongst others. These two acts occurred in 1990 and 2001 respectively, but are yet to meet their logical conclusion. Kasab should take solace from this and should carry on enjoying the hospitality of the Maharashtra government. The fact that Kasab probably will be in solitary confinement and that too in an egg-shaped cell should not dampen Kasab’s spirits. On the contrary he should be thankful for being alive. If this has happened in China or even in the US, Kasab would have been hanged and buried by now.

Wonder when the political leadership and the Judiciary of India, realize that the certainty of the sentence is as important as its severity. Real justice will be done when Kasab and all others on death row get what they yearned for.

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