It must be admitted with all fairness that fragile human beings that we are it is but obvious that at times we may falter doing something which we would later realize that it should not have been done. There are things like, at the slip of the tongue saying something odd, or at the spurt of the moment doing something unpleasant. Though one cannot seek absolution under the law, on the larger human platform we may admittedly acknowledge such transgressions of our fellowmen.
But consider the case of our Rural Development Minister who was convicted in the infamous 2006 case of slapping the Junior Engineer of the Electricity Department, while lawfully discharging his duties, and his appeals were turned down successively even by the apex court, leaving him with no option but to surrender before the authorities to undergo simple imprisonment of six months. But disgracefully he has been absconding since then and despite the arrest warrant being issued he has shown scant respect for the law. Can there be anything worse than a lawmaker who himself is evading the process of law?
Let us recollect that a number of our MPs and MLAs have been involved in criminal cases but on being convicted, after some drama, they have honourably surrendered.
Take for instance the case of the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who was convicted in the case pertaining to amassing wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income. For the large majority of Tamilians she is like a goddess descended from the skies, despite the decades old DA case against her. But when she was convicted, she did not go into hiding and surrendered before the law. That she is presently on bail is a different issue.
Mickky Pacheco by evading the legal process has lowered himself and brought disgrace to the Goans and for unwanted reasons Goa has been hitting the headlines on the national channels of late. Even a search warrant was issued to locate him in the Defence Minister’s house, an embarrassing thing to happen, though it was stayed in 7 hours. Where is he hiding after all!
