The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 26
26 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN For instance, Dhanvantri, who was charged with having attempted to murder a police officer, could have been tried in an ordinary court on that charge. The case against him was absolutely clear. The Crown would have produced two or three substantial witnesses, there was practically no defence, and a substantial sentence would have been a certainty. It is possible that against two or three of the accused specific charges may not have been established to the satisfaction of the court, but that would have happened in any case. I, myself, was of the opinion that if I was still in charge of the case on behalf of the Crown when charges were to be framed, I would not press the charges against two or three of the accused. With regard to one of them, a situation developed which would illustrate the spirit in which I approached the discharge of my duties in the case. This young man, a Maratha from Maharashtra - his name was Gajenand Sada Shiv Potdar - was found to be suffering from a mastoid and was released on bail for three months. His attendance at the trial was dispensed with. After three months he came back, his health having improved, and he was taken into custody again. After two or three weeks I began to notice that he was not looking very well. He became restless and took little interest in the proceedings. He would sit in the dock on the floor and read a book or would lie down and go to sleep. He was perhaps not very keenly interested in the proceedings in any case. He was one of those people against whom I was not going to press the charge because fairly early in the course of the conspiracy he had dissociated himself from the others, and there was not enough evidence to connect him actively with the conspiracy. Then the problem of his health arose and I felt the youngster was in a difficult position. I suggested to Dr. Kitchlew, the senior defence Counsel, that he should put in a bail application. He was a bit reluctant, but yielded to my persuasion and put in a bail application. The Tribunal, of course, called on me, whether I had anything to say. I submitted that the application was based on the ground that the young fellow's health was again deteriorating, and that the Tribunal should ask for a report from the jail doctor. The jail doctor's report was full of technicalities and was not easy to follow. Each paragraph seemed to contradict the previous paragraph and the only clear thing was that since his return to custody the young man had been losing weight.