Chaff and Grain

A PIONEERING WORK ON A highly topical subject, Chaff and Grain: Guilt, Innocence and the Dilemmas of Justice by Vivek Sood goes into the malfunctions of the criminal justice system in India. The Supreme Court has gone to the extent of saying that in our criminal justice system the judge presiding over a trial decides on the basis of his sixth sense as to what must have happened during the incident and then lays his trust in God and good luck for coming to the 'right' conclusion. In this hard-hitting take on the criminal justice process, Sood delves into how the innocent end up as undertrials, the misuse of the power of arrest by the police, unjustified denial of bail, manipulated investigations and fake encounters. Apart from making out a case for imperative reforms, in another important suggestion, Sood has redefined 'hate speech' and 'sedition', cases relating to which have been in the news. These are offences that legislators and policymakers can look at afresh, he says. The book also examines the investigations into some of the most controversial cases to hit the headlines in the past two decades-Aarushi Talwar, Jessica Lal, Priyadarshini Mattoo, the Telgi fake stamp paper scam and the Nirbhaya rape-making it a riveting read.