Hi All,

The facts are not disputed even by judge Saini; Dr. Swamy had to struggle his way to get at the facts thru RTIs and from CBI thru SC. This is half victory.

The second half is interpretation. Dr. Swamy says, for a "prima facie" case, the evidence he's given is adequate. During the trial, Dr. Swamy believes, the proof will come out. We tend to agree. The judge disagrees.

There are 3 perspectives (world views) to look at the interpretation from:

(i) "Do we allow people to hurl unproven charges at a Minister?", the judge's angle. We believe politics has reached such a stage where we can't any longer afford take this route.

(ii) "With corruption eroding the system, with criminality difficult to prove, do we make the onus of proof the responsibility of the people (Dr. Swamy here)? Will bribe taker take a video with high res audio and submit it to the court as proof? It's unfair", is the angle of some of us. If the judge had taken this route, he may have ordered a CBI (or some other) enquiry against PC. He may then have, at best, said, PC could even continue in office, protecting the process of gathering of evidence for Dr. Swamy somehow.

(iii) "We need to teach a lesson to politicians; let's send a strong signal now" is the view of the others among us. If the judge had taken this route, he may have ordered PC to me made a co-accused. Many legal pundits don't agree with this view, though this is the popular perception among the non-politicians who are agitated.

We may have expected (ii) (as most likely) or (iii). Sure, we're disappointed. But we need to understand that (i) is not necessarily a dishonest view; may be naive, in our view?

We hope a judge in HC or SC who holds views (ii) or (iii) takes the decision. Otherwise, this may be a lost case. (But that need not be the end of anti-corruption initiatives.) Such a situation can be corrected only by a constitutional amendment. We need to follow Anna's way, with more commitment. Honestly, I believe we, the people, haven't yet shown enough commitment to Anna's movement.

Whichever way, we have a long way to go. But unfortunately, that's how democracy works. And other alternatives to democracy could be worse.

Let's accept these realities and look to move forward. Let's no cast aspersions on anyone. Law is known to be an ass.

Dr. Swamy has said, "I'll do my best. If God wills that my efforts don't bear fruit, I'll just accept it." This attitude is necessary to keep our cool and not lose our balance.

Ganesan. :~(