CHAPTER 20 - The Eyes do not see what The Mind does not know
"Your honour, according to my client Ms Reena, Mr Avinash Choudhry established intimate relationship with her giving the promise of marriage. But he disappared after that only to return 2 years later when the boy,named Ravi , who was the result of this relationship was 1 year old. He once again proposed her for marriage and promised to take the responsibility of the child. As the marriage preparations were on , on 15th March,2012, the accused took the child to the nearby woods for a walk but returned without him, saying that Ravi slipped and fell into the mountain stream and was carried away by the current. The family of Ms Reena went with the entire village in search of the child but he was not found anywhere downstream. Meanwhile the accused all of a sudden went back on his promise of marriage and left the village in the middle of the night on 19th March 2012.
Your honour, I have submitted before the court a copy of the Missing Diary filed in the local Police Station. It must be noted that the local police refused to take any action against Mr Avinash Choudhry despite all the circumstantial proofs indicating foulplay."Swadheenta presented her case and then called Reena to the witness box who recounted her ordeal and blamed Avinash for killing the child in order to hide their relationship.
Then Suhasini got up to question her
Suhasini -
"Ms Reena, whatever you said is your version of the story. I am for the moment assuming it to be true but the court needs evidences. You are accusing Mr Choudhry of killing your child. But there should be a motive behind the killing. You are saying that he wanted to remove all signs of your relationship with him but where is the proof that this child was his ?"
Swadheenta -
"Objection my lord, the defense counsel is questioning my client's character"Suhasini
- "Your client has accused my client of a grievous crime like murder , I am just helping the court to make an unbiased judgement. Have some patience , the truth will come out on its own"Judge -
"Objection overruled, defence may proceed"Suhasini -
" Your honour, my client is a respectable family man , with a wife and a four year old son. He does not have any previous criminal record. Why would he commit a murder just to cover up his relationship with a woman? That too when there is no proof of the child being sired by him. The motive as mentioned by the prosecution simply does not hold any ground."Swadheenta
-"But then why did the accused promise to marry her?"
Suhasini -
"Did the accused tell you that he promised to marry her?"
Swadheenta -
"Why would the accused say that ? I have my witnesses. Your Honour , I would like to call Mr Roshan , Ms Reena's brother to the witness box."
Roshan came
Swadheenta -
"Tell me Mr. Roshan , didn't the accused promise to marry your sister and accept her child ?"Roshan -
" Yes , he did"Swadheenta -
" Your witness"Suhasini -
"Mr. Roshan, can you describe in detail , under what circumstances he promised to marry your sister"Roshan -
" He came to our home a week before Ravi went missing. He wanted to meet Reena. But we threw him out. He came back again and begged on his knees. He said that he was sorry for what he did and was ready to do anything to win back her trust. We then asked him to take away the stigma of an unmarried mother from her by marrying her and he agreed"Suhasini - "
So , he just wanted to meet the girl he once loved and you people forced him to give his assent to marriage ? However , this still does not prove the prosecution's point that the child was his. Infact it shows that the plaintiff's family took advantage of the situation"Swadheenta -
"Your honour, the accused is from a very influential family, there is no way the plaintiff could have threatened him into doing anything. He gave the assent of his own will"
Suhasini -
"Your honour, if I am not wrong , my client went to meet Ms Reena all by himself. He was not followed by a motorcade of bodyguards who would save him from any physical assault. Mr Roshan himself accepted just now that they threw him out of the house at first. Advocate Swadheenta Sinha , if you have some solid evidences to prove that the murder actually took place, please do that instead of beating around the bush"
Swadheenta -
"I would like to call Mr. Ramlal to the witness box"Ramlal was a middle aged man in his late 40s of average build and an impressive moustache. He came and stood in the witness box
Swadheenta -
"Mr. Ramlal, tell the court what you saw in the morning of 15th March 2012"Ramlal -
"I was coming out of the woods after answering nature's call when I saw the accused going inside the woods with the boy in his arms. I called him by name as we had developed a good rapport during his stay in our village. I was really surprised when he did not answer. He was looking suspisciosly around and soon vanished behind the trees. I had some doubts so I immediately went to tell Dukhiram, Roshan's father. Just a few minutes later Avinash came back, his clothes were wet, and he was looking all anxious. He told us how the baby slipped from his hands and how he jumped into the cold water to save him but in vain."Ramlal gave his description very animatedly accompanied by hand movements and exaggerated facial expressions
Swadheenta - "
That would be enough. Your witness"
Suhasini -
"Mr. Ramlal, do you by any chance work in a drama company ?"
Ramlal -
"Yes, I am an actor as well as writer. We have a nautanki group, you must have heard about it. Our Ramleela troupe is famous..."
Suhasini -
"We will talk about your Ramleela troupe some other day. But I must say I am impressed with your diverse skills. You must be having a very good imaginative power"
Ramlal, smiling shyly -
" Yes, even my friends say that"Suhasini, amused -
"No doubt you have let your imagination run riot here as well."
Swadheenta -
" What does it have to do with the case ? "
Suhasini
- "All I am trying to say is the incident happened 4 years ago. It is quite possible that the witness has forgotten the actual happenings and has used his outstanding imaginative skills to present a highly exaggerated version. Your honour, I think the prosecution has no other proof to present before the court. She should first prove that the murder actually took place. Then we can move on to the motive . For that , she will have to present the dead body of the child. Because chances are there that the plaintiff and her family have hidden the child somewhere and have brought this case against my client in return for some financial favours. Such things are often done by the political rivals"Swadheenta -
"Objection, my lord. My client has no political connections"
Judge -
"Objection sustained. The defence counsel should not bring unverified accusations against the accused's political rivals. However the court agrees with the defence that the prosecution could not establish the crime. You will have to present some solid evidences to make your case stand. The next hearing will be two months later. If you are still unable to provide any proof the case will be dismissed" Swadheenta was feeling very angry with herself. Suhasini had smartly refuted all her witnesses. How was she going to make a comeback now? She saw Reena sitting on the bench and sobbing miserably. Her brother was trying hard to console her. Swadheenta had promised to bring justice to them but all she managed to do was open their old wounds. She walked up to them and kneeled infront of Reena. She did not know what to say, just held her hand silently. Just then Suhasini, who was passing by, stopped there and said,
"
Ask her not to cry. Crying does not provide a solution to anything"Saying this, she left from there.
Later that evening, Adarsh was pacing restlessly in his room. He had heard how Suhasini had managed to completely outsmart Swadheenta in the court today. It was not Swadheenta's fault. They knew the case was weak. It was completely based on circumstantial evidences. But they also knew that Roshan and Reena were not lying. They had seen it in their eyes. They knew in their hearts that they were on the right side but were unable to prove it. He could not let Swadheenta lose so easily. He would have to put his plan into action now.
He had talked to the Commissioner in person and convinced him that Suhasini was being threatened by the minister to fight this case. Therefore they needed to tap her phone in order to gather evidence against the minister. He was doing this without informing his mother as she was reluctant to approach the police.
The Commissioner was newly transferred to Delhi and was the father of Abhay's friend Akash. He was honest and mostly free from political influences. Therefore he agreed to help Adarsh. The police would tap the phone and he will get the recordings through Akash. Adarsh did not like what he was doing , but to bring out the truth ,he would have to forego his principles. There was no other way Swadheenta could win this case. They will have to find the aces that his mother had up her sleeve.
A week had passed since the first hearing. Swadheenta and Adarsh had still not been able to find any clue. Meanwhile they got the confirmation that Suhasini had indeed negotiated with the minister. The latter had accepted his role in the cover up and also admitted to forcing Manohar into doing it.
Swadheenta was standing outside her office which was just a few steps away from Suhasini's. She was waiting for Adarsh to pick her up. Suddenly a car came and stopped before her. The window rolled down and she was surprised to find Suhasini in the driver's seat,flashing a friendly smile ,
"Was thinking of getting a new car since long. Right now taking a test drive. Come on, hop in. I will drop you home."Swadheenta did not know how to react. But she could not decline her mother in law. She got into the car and messaged Adarsh not to come.
As they drove on Suhasini asked,
"
So did you find anything new in the case?"Swadheenta was silent. Why was she asking her this question ? Even if she did find anything , why would she share with her opponent?
"You must be thinking why am I asking such a silly question."Suhasini had read her mind
"Ok, leave that. Tell me what did you learn from the first hearing?"Suhasini changed her question
"That I am really stupid. I ought to have found some material proofs of the murder. Either the weapon of the murder , or the body of the victim"Swadheenta let out her frustration. For her, Suhasini was always her mentor and she unknowinly relied on her whenever she faced any difficulties in the professional front
Suhasini chuckled seeing her like that and said,
"That is very basic . But sometimes the eyes do not see what the mind does not know. Infact all your keys lie in our arguements from the first hearing. You just need to know which one fits which lock"Swadheenta tried to remember the what happened in the last hearing. She still did not get what her mother in law was trying to say.
Seeing her silent Suhasini said , still looking at the road ,
"Let me give you your first hint. How will you find the body when there was no murder ?"
The corner of her lips curled in a mysterious smile ,
"The boy is not dead Swadheenta."
Edited by Idiotboxer - 8 years ago
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