The story of Iftikhar Gilani's days in prison reads like a textbook case of all that is wrong with the criminal justice system in this part of the world. It is also the story of paranoia, prejudice and apathy, all of which found full play in a system that boasts of a functioning and "independent" judiciary and a "vibrant" media trained to examine and analyse the facts of each case. Years from now, retired Intelligence Bureau officials, much-feted retired bureaucrats, and perhaps even honourably retired justices in the know, will reflect on Iftikhar Gilani's case in their memoirs, and as is the wont of many such eminent retirees, will point to what went wrong, and how it could have, indeed, should have, been set right. 'Retrospect' is a comforting, eminently huggable word — it will soothe those occasional pangs of conscience.
For nearly seven months — the time it might take to write half a book, or see your daughter through her final exams and graduation, or launch a successful advertising campaign — Gilani under-went torture and humiliation in Tihar Jail and assaults on his reputation through the shameful conduct of the media. The simple act of downloading a published document, widely available in the public domain, led to a nightmare that began with armed men and brusque officials taking over his house in the middle of the night. Not only did they ransack Gilani's house and tamper with the data in question, they fed false information to a press, which, barring a few exceptions, lapped it up.
India's Intelligence Bureau (IB), which is accountable to nobody, was clearly in charge here. The IB officials, using the Income Tax department as a cover for a raid, wanted the police to register a case of espionage under the Official Secrets Act, accusing Gilani of acting as an agent of the Pakistani secret service and passing on information about the deployment of security forces in Jammu & Kashmir. They overruled the objections of the police officers present, who expressed reservations about the allegations, and compelled them to proceed with Gilani's arrest.
The result was that Gilani was sent to Tihar Jail in west Delhi where he was given the standard treatment, with the tacit approval of jail officials — beatings and humiliation by hardened inmates. This had been preceded by an orientation session at the police station where a knowledgeable police official had described his favourite 'interrogation' methods to a dazed Gilani. His reference was to "third degree", which has almost become a household term in some circles, liberally used even in polite company. Gilani was spared the worst of these methods, thanks to interventions by some friends in the media. As he points out in his book, thousands of others caught in the web of India's criminal justice system are not so fortunate. They are subjected to some of the most inhuman forms of torture, and the matter of guilt or innocence is moot.