Innocent techie spends 50 days in jail!

Here is an example of how an Internet MNC like Google can inadvertently aid ill-equipped police forces in emerging markets and authoritarian regimes put people behind bars for absolutely no fault of theirs.

It reiterates the point that those interested in the freedom of the Internet have been making – that the Internet must be kept free of govt control, else you would have horrendous cases of miscarriage of justice in countries where these values are not appreciated much any way.

In this case, the real mistake was committed by Airtel, an Indian telephone company and Internet service provider. Airtel’s response has been one of indifference. Worse, it has been hounding the man it helped put in jail for not paying his Internet service bill, though one can't pay bills from jail.

Innocent techie spends 50 days in jail
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Wrongly Accused Of Defaming Shivaji On Net

Ketan Tanna TNN

Mumbai: In the early hours of the morning of August 31, Lakshmana Kailash K was asleep in his home in Bangalore . He was woken up by eight policemen from Pune who came knocking on his door and waved the Information Technology Act, 2000, in his sleepy, terrified face. Get dressed, he was told, we are taking you to Pune for having defamed Shivaji.

Lakshmana protested that he didn’t know anyone called Shivaji. The policemen said that they were talking about Chhatrapati Shivaji, and that an insulting picture of him had been uploaded on the internet networking site Orkut. The cyber trail had led them to his computer in Bangalore.

Turning a deaf ear to his protests, the police took him to Pune and put him behind bars. Along the way, the 26-year-old Lakshmana, who works with HCL, learned that what he was being arrested for was a case that had triggered riots in Pune in November 2006. Political parties had forcibly closed cafes and gone on the rampage over the posting of the illustration which had poked fun at Shivaji.

New to the ways of cyber crime, the police took over ten months to trace the alleged source. Google, which owns Orkut, had cooperated with them but the vital IP address (computer number) was provided by the service provider Bharti (Airtel). Bharti said that the IP address belonged to a Lakshmana K who lived in a Bangalore apartment with friends. His first bail plea was rejected. Finally, on October 20, after spending 50 days with 200 undertrials at Yervada Jail, Lakshmana was released.

Sorry, said the police, the IP address given to us was wrong.

We are sorry, said Airtel, and “deeply distressed by the severe inconvenience caused to the customer’’.

To add insult to injury, the police released Laskshmana nearly three weeks after they claimed to have picked up the “real culprits’’ on October 3— three Bangalore boys from Koramangala, all in judicial custody.

Asked about the earlier arrest, assistant commissioner Netaji Shinde says, “Yes, we made a mistake. So what?’’

Bharti was a little more contrite but made no mention of compensation. “We are in touch with the customer. We have robust internal processes which we review frequently to make them more stringent,’’ said Airtel in a written response to TOI. “We have conducted a thorough investigation of the matter and will take appropriate action.’’

Lakshmana’s ordeal has uncanny resonances of Kafka’s ‘The Trial’, the more so because his name has the same initial K as Kafka’s hapless protagonist. K is arrested one morning before breakfast on a non-charge and is left to battle the state’s mindless might.

Lakshmana was charged under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code for a deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings, and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act for publishing ‘lascivious’ material or material that ‘appeals to the prurient interest’.

Times View: This is a shocking case. The police can’t get away with a mere apology after wrongly charging Lakshmana Kailash and putting him in jail for 50 days on the basis of a “mistake’’. The cops may argue that they acted in good faith and the error was made by the telecom company. But wasn’t the mistake compounded because of poor police work? In fact, it’s because of police sloppiness—or is it arrogance?—that the youngster has suffered this nightmare.

Currently, the law doesn’t allow for suing the police and other authorities for such mistakes. The law must be changed so that hapless persons like Lakshmana can demand and get compensation for being gravely wronged. That will also force the police to be careful while exercising their vast powers.

Jail played havoc with the techie's health

Mumbai: Bangalore techie Lakshmana Kailash K was charged under the IPC and the Information Technology Act. The latter charge carries a punishment of five years’ and gives the police the right to search cyber cafes and residences without a warrant.

Like Kafka’s K, Lakshmana tried initially to be brave. But he cracked when he was made to pose for a photograph with a black slate carrying his father’s name and his alleged crime. “It hurt me a lot that my father, who is a retired banker in Tirunelveli, was being associated with a crime. I just broke down,’’ he says.

“We were given a vati (bowl) which we had to eat and drink from and even take to the toilet. The long queues for filling water in the vati was our survival routine,’’ says Lakshmana. The three-in-one bowl system hit him hard. His kidney stones started acting up and his health deteriorated rapidly.

“Because of depression and the bad food, I lost 12 kilos,’’ he says. “I now even have an enlarged liver because of the food and the stress.’’ He’s back home now trying to put it all behind him. HCL has been supportive but Lakshmana is not sure whether his job still exists. “I have forgotten coding. I need to start all over again,’’ he says.

Asked if he planned to sue for compensation, Lakshmana is philosophical. “My family is considering it. Right now, I’m just beginning to appreciate the small things in life. It’s good to have a toilet to oneself. It’s good to have clean drinking water. It’s good to have family to quarrel with.’’

Two days after he returned to Bangalore , Airtel got in touch. But it wasn’t about the arrest. They sent him a text message reminding him to pay his bill. The text message was followed up by a visit from a collection agent. “I told them it’s all because of you that I haven’t paid,’’ says Lakshmana. “We can’t pay bills from jail.’’ ###

Times Impact

Techie case: State govt, policemen get MSHRC notice
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Ketan Tanna TNN

Mumbai: Taking suo motu cognisance of a report in the The Times of India on how Bangalore IT professional K Lakshmana was jailed for 50 days on false charges of defaming Shivaji, the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) has issued notices to the state government, the chief secretary, additional chief secretary (home), DGP, Mumbai, and commissioner and assistant commissioner of police, Pune city, for “breach of (Lakshmana’s) human rights’’.

In a one-page notice, MSHRC chairperson Justice Khsitij R Vyas said the mental agony and torture suffered by Lakshmana was an evidence of the “sorry state of affairs in a country where every citizen has a right to live, move and breathe freely’’. These rights cannot be taken away at whim or in a careless manner as has been done in this case, Justice Vyas said, adding,

“We are living in democracy where the rule of law prevails. There is no place for jungle raj where anybody can be picked up and put behind bars. The fact that Lakshmana’s bail plea was rejected by the court shows the manner in which the police had collected material against him with the sole objective of branding him an accused.’’

The special IGP of the MSHRC’s investigation wing has been directed to seize the case papers and produce it before the panel. Meanwhile, Lakshmana said he was happy that his innocence had been proved. ###

Media "most trusted" institution in India

As one who has been in media for 37 years, I have often come across skeptics and cynics. The first category is acceptable and welcome. We need a little more questioning in this country, a little more reluctance to accept something simply because someone says so, even if it is attributed to the Almighty.

It is the second category that disturbs and repels me -- the cynics. And I have come across a lot of people who are cynical about the media ("reporters need to add mirchi-masala to make their stories readable", "after all media is a business" and so on).

Which is why I was most interested by the findings of Edelman's first-ever quantitative study of stakeholder expectations of companies operating in India (I work for Edelman). The study covered 140 opinion leaders across the country. It found that despite the popular perception that people are in general cynical about media, most so today because media is big business, in India at least media is the ‘most trusted’ institution.

In fact, the study found that media got a top rating of 50 percent on trust, followed by business at 44 percent. The study also found that Government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are the least trusted institutions with equal ratings of just 32 percent. Now I am not surprised that Government is not so trusted. But the finding that NGOs are least trusted, barring a few exceptions certainly, makes for interesting reading. It indicates which way the wind is blowing.

I have a lot of respect for NGOs. A lot of them do good work. They were the product of Mrs Indira Gandhi's Emergency from 1975-77 when many of us discovered what hypocrisy meant. When the emergency ended, many new "rebels" who had fought the Emergency on the quiet in their own way, came out into the open and began to fight for justice for the poor and the underprivileged.

Some used their legal acumen. to do so. Judges began to see the other side of an unjust system and Public Interest Litigation came into being. In course of time, a triad of the mediapersons who believed in standing up for a cause, lawyers and socially-conscious judges came into being. A lot of good resulted.

But, as often happens, some began to misuse the system. Many jumped on to the NGO bandwagon as a new career opportunity, not as a mission. And hence perhaps the distrust that has crept in and grown. There is a growing perception that NGOs are very well- funded and that many of them are doing the bidding of their funders.

There is also a perception that NGOs shout fire when there is smoke in order to attract attention. I remember reading this in an NGO instruction manual! Also, that activists should "step on the toes of your opponents till they pay you to get off"! The campaign eagainst all dams, rather than fighting for more rigorous rehabiliation of displaced people, is another example of the distrust of NGOs that has crept in.

There is a feeling that NGOs are out to push a cause, regardless. As one of them told me many years ago, "I am not interested in the truth, I am only interested in my cause."

Rains prove the hollowness of official claims

Today's rains in Mumbai are a clear indication that official claims about being ready for the monsoon this year are nothing but water down the river. Someone must take the rap for this. Why should the municipal commissioner, whoever he is, not be sacked for failing to deliver on promises to taxpayers? More expecially when he and other officials over the years have been talking about making Mumbai first a Singapore, then a Sydney and now a Shanghai. Balderdash!

As a first step, the municipal commisioner's residence should be moved from Malabar Hill to Malavni in Malad and he should be forced to commute to Mahapalika Marg daily -- for a start he can do so by road using his official car, rather than by train. That will help reduce the shock! Let's give him a chance to prove his mettle from Malavni rather than Malabar Hill. If he fails to deliver on promises, then withdraw his car and ensure he travels by train and bus.

That's just for starters...