At least for now I was free and planned to enjoy every moment of this freedom. I felt like an animal who had nearly been captured. Jacob was engrossed in his thoughts, organising all the necessary steps to be taken now before the matter appeared in court. In fact, he was trying to think of ways in which the matter could be kept out of court. He decided that in case it had to go to court we would fight it on the grounds that I was innocent. I was not guilty of any offence whatsoever because every formality had been observed.
As we stepped out of the police station on that April evening, there could not have been anyone with a greater sense of freedom than I just then. I had had the taste of what it feels like when personal freedom is threatened. I was relieved and happy. Luckily I did not know then that my troubles were only beginning.
Little did we know what we were in for during the next three years. What a battle it is to fight against the powers that prevail in the structure of authority like the police force which is a part of the government. However, as Jacob knew well, the judiciary in India was above the influence of the police authorities and the government, and as I was innocent and if the case was fought on that alone, then there was no way that I could lose.
The children were happy to see us back. They had been anxiously waiting, worried and full of questions. The elder two understood the situation slightly better than the younger. Luckily the younger ones did not know the full implications. Jacob was careful to explain what had happened to them and told them that we would fight the case as I had done no wrong. This was one principle that he wanted to instil in our children.
I chose the cassette with the music from the film "Born Free". I had never experienced such a feeling of freedom and did not realise that I could feel the beautiful meaning of the words so intensely. "Born free, as free as the wind blows, as free as the grass grows,...." and to feel myself so much a part of it, and face the fear of losing my freedom. At that moment it was the most beautiful piece of music for me. The words have remained a symbol of freedom to me ever since.
Jacob had a professional function to attend that evening. We got ready and packed ourselves into the car. I remember wearing a brown and white cotton sari. Jacob drove the car and off we went. It was something to make us feel that things were normal again and to take our thoughts away from the unexpected turn of events.
Once we got home that evening. Jacob and I went through the events and the implications of it, and planned our strategy to fight for my rights. Jacob decided to fight it in the court to prove that the case had been fabricated against me. However, he first prepared a very clear petition which he intended to present to the Police Commissioner on the Monday morning.
Jacob was convinced that probably the best way was to ensure that the case did not go any further. If it could be stopped, then what better than to go to the point of initiation. He intended to use the petition in several ways, even as a guide for the lawyers, in case we had to resort to a legal battle. As was typical of him, he sat up almost all night and wrote the petition several times over in his clear handwriting till he was satisfied that he had it just right - not too long but with all the pertinent facts.
On Sunday Jacob tried to get access to the Police Commissioner. It soon became evident that we could not get near him. Mutual friends gave us advice that he would not be sympathetic. He seemed to have inspired his force to do just what had been done. So Jacob started on his second line of attack. He went to meet a very old family friend, Retired Justice Mir Iqbal Husain, a very learned lawyer who had been the Vigilance Commissioner looking into corruption in the government after his retirement from his illustrious legal service. Jacob gave him a copy of the petition and explained in detail what had happened.
Jacob met Mr. Vijiya Rangam who told him that he was not really an expert on cases related to the Foreigners Act. He referred him to another close legal friend, senior advocate Abdul Sattar Sait. Jacob, armed with his petition, met up with Mr. Sattar Sait late that evening. After a very long, intricate and detailed discussion, Mr. Sattar Sait came to the conclusion that he would use the services of a partnership of two young lawyers to fight this case. He called in one of them, a lanky, pleasant-looking young man by the name of Ishtiaq. Mr. Sattar Sait and an associate had a particularly long discussion with this youngster. When Jacob was called in it appeared as if they knew what they should be doing.
The petition prepared by Jacob was discussed and they agreed that Jacob should try all available means to try to get the case dropped, while in the meantime they would prepare the legal basis on which to fight the case. They told Jacob to organise someone with a small immovable property to be available on call the following Tuesday as that would be necessary if they were going to get me released on bail. They also asked Jacob to meet up with them on the evening of the following Monday to advise them of all the steps taken and the results. That would give them Monday night to prepare the papers for the hearing on the Tuesday.
During the next few days, Jacob and Arif, armed with the petition tried to get access to the various persons who could have been of some help in the Police Department. Arif tried to reach Police Sub-Inspector Manjula first. She had taken the week off from work and was not available. This showed that her demand that I should meet her on 15 April was pure sham as she had no intention of being there. They then went from officer to officer, starting at the bottom and moving higher along the chain of command. It soon became obvious that the point of no return had been reached, possibly because of steps taken by Police Sub-Inspector Manjula anticipating the moves that we might make. All the people they met were sympathetic but after looking through the papers found that the chances of their intervening had been carefully removed. By Good Friday, Jacob and Arif were sure that there was no hope but to go through with the case.
Most of the advice that they got was that I should plead guilty and get away with a fine of a few hundred rupees, a token amount. Jacob, however, was adamant. This would not be the case. I had not done anything wrong. An admission of guilt would ensure that I was forever marked as an offender. Every time I applied for something in India I would be asked if I had ever been convicted of any offence, and this would stick out as a sore thumb. Also, knowing the mentality of people, they would soon forget that any plea of guilty was one of convenience and they would soon rile Jacob and me about my guilt. So we got ready for the fight.
On the Monday evening Jacob and I went to meet our lawyers. Ishtiaq's partner, whom we met for the first time then, was another young man called Jawad Rahim, B. Sc., L.L.B., Advocate. An advocate in India is one who is also permitted to practise in the High Court. Jawad was the senior partner of this team. Both these young men were extremely pleasant individuals. Their office, a small room measuring just 3 m by 2 m, was situated near the busy Russell Market Square, one of the two main markets in Bangalore. There was a steady stream of clients of all shapes and sizes, mostly for minor cases. The two youngsters showed respect to everyone who entered their chambers.
Jacob liked the way they treated all their clients, more like family members than as clients. He decided almost immediately that he would appoint them as his Company lawyers besides acting as our personal lawyers. He agreed on a monthly retainer fee plus a bonus when the cases they fought for us were completed. This arrangement seemed to appeal to them as they had not been retained as Company lawyers before and this would ensure a small but regular income.
It was clear to them that it was a case of false accusation, prima facie. However, this was not important at this stage. Jawad explained that the procedure on the Tuesday would be just a formality. He asked Jacob who would provide bail so that I would not have to be kept in custody. As Jacob had no immovable, unattached property to offer as bail, he said that a family friend, Hakim, who had been the electrician to the family for many years and had a small house of his own, had agreed to act as the guarantor. Jawad asked Jacob to arrange that Hakim be present in the court by around 10 a.m. As I had been asked to report at the police station it was agreed that one of them would meet up with us in the court at 10 a.m.
By 10 a.m. all including Ishtiaq and Hakim were ready. Everything was done the best it could be. In spite of that I felt nervous and ill at ease. Hope and fear were alternating feelings within me. I was uncertain as to how things would turn out. I was afraid and worried. It is difficult to imagine the mental torture that I was going through.
After this episode, I was expecting, at the most, a few more visits to the court. Had I known how complicated matters would get I do not know whether I would have had the courage to fight further. I was certain that matters would be over soon. I was hopeful.
The police presented the charge sheet to the magistrate along with various documents and a copy was given to our lawyers. One look at them and Jacob could see that the entire case was a fabrication by Sub-Inspector Manjula. In a letter purportedly written by the State Registration Officer to the Office of the Commissioner of Police on 20 February 1980, reference is made to a letter supposedly sent by the Office of the Commissioner of Police on 17 February 1980. This could immediately be seen as a fabrication. We had presented our application to Officer Manjula on 18 February 1980. To show that she had initiated action before the date of our application she had dated the fictitious letter as 17 February 1980. Unfortunately she had not bothered to check the calendar. This was a Sunday. No police office works on a Sunday, let alone sends out official communications with a Sunday post date. Further in the same letter, so as to add some drama, there was a mention of my being advised to get my passport revalidated without further delay, whereas I had already got it renewed and had presented it to her on 18 February 1980.
Also attached to the charge sheet was the statement of a witness, who was none other than Sub-Inspector P. Manjula. In that she made mention of the fact that my residential permit was valid till 30 November 1980 and that it was issued on 20 March 1980. There was no mention that this was ever intimated to me, and in fact even in February 1981 when we visited her, she had not divulged this fact. This was also not disclosed when we visited her on 3 April 1981. All this clearly pointed to her evil intentions and showed beyond a shadow of doubt, that she had had a plan to prosecute me which had been hatched in her mind, possibly even more than a year earlier.
This was not the time and place to argue these points. At this juncture there was only one thing to be done - for me to enter my plea. As the session progressed, when the magistrate asked me to enter my plea, I pleaded 'Not Guilty'. The magistrate, a pleasant individual, sensing the trauma I was going through, asked me whether I had been treated well by the police. I replied that I had no complaints. With this easy friendliness shown by the magistrate, I was certain that the matter would be settled soon. The magistrate declared that I could be released on bail of Rs. 5000, the surety was duly posted, and Round One was over.