By Mayank Jain:
Gurbaksh Singh Chahal is an internet mogul who has now become a household name, and not in the least bit for a good reason. He is being talked about all over the media for hitting his girlfriend 117 times in the course of half an hour. The charges against this once celebrated Indian advertising talent, are as horrid as they can get.
There is a video footage of the entire 30 minutes of attack which reportedly shows him beating and kicking the girl after he came to know about her, cheating during a trip to Las Vegas. The court has decided to not consider the footage against him in the case since it was obtained illegally from his room by the police.
And here comes the surprise (or shock depending on how you see it): He has escaped jail. Yes, a man with 1 million dollars and some philanthropy in the past was able to escape these heinous offence by just pleading guilty.
He pleaded guilty for misdemeanor, domestic violence and battery charges and overcame the felony counts against him as reported by The Huffington Post. He was finally sentenced to just three years of probation, 52 weeks of domestic violence training program and 25 hours of community service which is clearly a drop in the ocean given the seriousness of his offences.
The official term for such instances is Plea Bargain where accused are allowed to go with less stern punishments when they plead guilty to some of the minor offences from all the charges against them. The idea is to save time and effort in getting a confession out of the accused but it does dilute the whole idea of justice by making sure people are able to bargain their way out of it.
On the other hand, it creates victims out of people who didn’t do an offence but agree to bargain to save themselves the hassles of going through torcher in jails.
Plea Bargain may work for some and save some time and effort for the judicial system, but this case has clearly sent out the wrong message. It tells people to not worry about a crime they commit, but be philanthropic and rich enough to post bail money and hire negotiators who can get you out for much less than you deserve. He has been acting as if nothing happened to him and is posting inspirational messages like these on Twitter.
It is time we choose our heroes carefully. The judicial system is above everything else but a careful second look at instances like these will make us think. Can we allow people to ‘bargain’ their way out of punishment for the horrendous crimes they commit and then adopt sainthood? More importantly, what if he was not as rich to afford the bail and a good attorney? Can money now buy you forgiveness too?
He was once named one of America’s “most eligible bachelors” by ExtraTV.
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Do you think Plea Bargaining is justified in cases of crimes against women?