The police and the DPP really must do better: Another day during the inquest into the death in custody of Thanabalan
I woke up to a leak in my bathroom. The floor was wet. Water was dripping from the ceiling.
I got the ladder. I found the problem. I messaged the lawyer that I would be late. I couldn’t make it to court by 9.00 am. I needed to take measures to avoid collapse of the ceiling.
Being punctual is important to me. It’s my way of showing that I respect people.
It would take too much time to fix the leak. I decided to place a container in the ceiling and collect the drip. I did the job, quickly.
I had a quick breakfast. I showered. I got in the car. The GPS said I could get to the court by 9.30 am. I would be “only” half an hour late.
But what should have taken 45 minutes took two hours. Because there were two accidents along the way and traffic was either at a standstill or just inching.
I was so embarrassed. I had been late only twice in 2019. Yet, two weeks into 2020, I’ve already been late twice. And, I was to meet someone who is never late. He’s as obsessed with punctuality as I am.
That’s only one reason why I’m incredibly annoyed today.
Today, despite a leak which could have collapsed my ceiling, I did my best to be on time.
But the hearing didn’t happen like it was supposed to. The inquest into the death in custody of Thanabalan is delayed again. (Read more here)
Today’s date was fixed in late October last year. The government – the Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) and the police – had 11 weeks to make sure the witnesses would come.
But the witnesses didn’t come.
Today the inquest was to have heard from two witnesses.
These witnesses should have been served with subpoenas. Their attendance should have been confirmed by the Investigating Officer (IO) and the DPP.
The witnesses didn’t show up. The IO did show up. The DPP said the IO had told her the subpoenas had not been served on the witnesses.
Why didn’t the DPP know this earlier? Why were we made to come today? Why can’t the government serve a subpoena and confirm attendance despite having 11 weeks to do so?
Today, Thanabalan’s wife and her father came again from Klang. They came by taxi. She took the day off work. Lawyer M Visvanathan came. The DPP and the coroner came. Other cases were not scheduled today because the time was allocated to the inquest. Court time was wasted.
So much waste! Who will pay?
To add insult to injury, the IO didn’t wear his uniform. To put it mildly, he was dressed casually – though he well knew that all the officers of the court would be in formal attire.
Worse, the IO sat in the seats which are reserved for members of the bar. I was surprised that neither the DPP nor the coroner commented on this.
All in all, a very disappointing day!
Rama Ramanathan is an activist for Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of The Leaders Online.
