Revelations (Part 2)

PREVIOUSLY...

Narayan Sen rose to the witness stand next. He had a rural upbringing, having spent his childhood in the Naxal-infested regions of Vidarbha. He joined the revolutionary militia after completing his education and received promotion after promotion. Before he realized it, he was being conferred Directorship over the most powerful anti-corruption organization in the entire subcontinent, maybe even Orbis.

“Your honour”, Narayan began. “My colleague - Mr Adamski - rightfully pointed out a discrepancy of 1710 Indian Rubles between the Q2 and the Q3 spreadsheets. We have reason to believe that this money was responsible for the assassination of ex-Union Regulator Anton Urbanek.”

Several audible gasps were heard throughout the courtroom. Even the judges couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Narayan was unperturbed by the reactions of other people.

“It should be noted that in Q3, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh - an organization banned for inciting counter-revolutionary violence - published a news report from their underground news channel claiming to have received nearly two thousand Indian Rubles in donations from just one person.”
“Given that 1710 is close to 2000 if rounded off, it is safe to assume that the donation came from none other than Mr Sampath himself.”

The Chief Justice struck the gavel three times.

“While this is indeed concerning, how does this enable the RSS to assassinate the very Union Regulator?”, Chief Justice Yohan inquired.
“Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg”, Narayan sighed. “Ground investigations show that Mr Anton Urbanek was shot with precisely eight bullets - six to the body, one to the head, and one missed shot. Some of the bullets were tainted with fingerprints, which the assailant most likely left accidentally while checking for the quality-”
“And who could be the person who murdered our Union Regulator?”, Justice Minister Madhavi interjected.
“After thorough fingerprint matching, we have tracked down the assailant to an RSS member named Ayush Mishra, who I’d like to give the floor to”, Narayan said in a robotic voice.

In a flash, Aysuh Mishra took to the witness stand. He was a rough-and-tough man, wearing a ragged shirt that had seen better days. After much insistence, he had been allowed to bring his traditional wooden stick - a major item for any RSS member - with him.

“Mr Mishra, is it true that you assassinated ex-Union Regulator Anton Urbanek?”, Chief Justice Yohan broke the silence first.
“Yes”, Ayush bluntly replied, his cold-heartedness evident.
“And why did commit such a horrendous act?”
“Because High Command told me to!”
“In that case, was the Prime Minister related in this assassination in any manner?”
“Yes…he was the one who provided me with the exact date, timing, route and address for the Union Regulator’s meeting with the reformists.”

All eyes turned to the Prime Minister. However, it seemed that Arun had now taken a vow of silence.

“In that case, court is adjourned until a verdict can be reached”, the Chief Justice announced, his voice loud enough to echo throughout the room.

With a defeated face, Arun Sampath shook his head down, shedding a couple of tears. He hoped that the Supreme Court would go lightly on him. The judges then withdrew to the drawing room to decide upon a verdict. Several minutes passed.

Some more passed just like that.

And some more…

Where the hell were the judges?
 

After what seemed like eternity, the judges of the Supreme Court finally returned to announce the verdict on the impeachment of Prime Minister Arun Sampath. It was decided that Chief Justice Yohan Prakash would be the one delivering the bad news.

“According to Section 32, the Supreme Court finds Arun Sampath guilty of treason.”

The Chief Justice went on…

"According to Section 42, the Supreme Court finds Arun Sampath guilty of funding counter-revolutionary organizations."

...and on...

“According to Section 46, the Supreme Court finds Arun Sampath guilty of embezzlement of state funds.”

…and on…

“According to Section 48, the Supreme Court finds Arun Sampath guilty of offering bribes to individuals related to the government.”

…and on…

“According to Section 49, the Supreme Court finds Arun Sampath guilty of attempting to offer bribes to individuals related to the government.”

…and on…

“According to Section 63, the Supreme Court finds Arun Sampath guilty of funding illegal organizations.”

Trying to stand upright on the defendant’s stand was becoming almost impossible.

“According to Section 85, the Supreme Court finds Arun Sampath guilty of conspiracy to murder.”

Finally, the Chief Justice was done reading out all the criminal charges. He struck the gavel three times, demanding silence.

“In light of all the crimes that the Prime Minister has been found guilty of, the Supreme Court hereby impeaches Arun Sampath”, the Chief Justice declared.

Several rounds of applause and gasps were mixed together, the tension in the air unpalpable. Never before in the history of the Republic had the Prime Minister been impeached before, not even in the aftermath of Centrist rule.

“In light of magnitude of the crimes committed, the Prime Minister is to be subjected to life in community service”, Justice Minister Madhavi added. “According to Article 17, Deputy Minister Nilesh Pathak is to be sworn in as Acting Prime Minister. Snap elections must be announced before a six-month grace period effective immediately.”

It all seemed to fade away for Arun Sampath. Everything went blurry, as if he was nearing death. The Chief Justice trying to silence the crowd with his gavel snapped him back to reality. Yohan Prakash then signed the verdict papers with a gel pen before breaking it in two - a tradition usually reserved for death penalties. The Chief Justice then faced the former Prime Minister.

“Mr Sampath, it shall seem that you will be clearing our snowy streets on Christmas; forced to perform community service for the rest of your life”, the Chief Justice said, looking Arun straight into his eyes.

25 DECEMBER 2098

Christmas was supposed to be a happy time of the year. Yet, the snowfall in the tropics only added misery to the strife of many citizens of the Republic of Winners. Arun Sampath was now wearing the clothes of a commoner, handcuffed and holding a makeshift shovel. Along with a score of inmates, he was supposed to clear the streets of the irradiated snow that had fallen on them following the fallout incident. December had been a terrible month in particular, as the retreating monsoon winds brought the fallout deposited in Central India back again.

Having been reduced to the ranks of a petty criminal, Arun lightly pushed his shovel into a thick mass of snow and managed to pull some out. His tightened handcuffs didn’t help reduce the pain of manual labour either. Every time Arun tried to dig out some snow, his shovel would only tap the mass. Every single attempt would weaken the integrity of the shovel until it snapped in half, much to the anger of the overseer behind him. A teenage boy approached him with a new, pristine shovel.

“Sir, here…take this”, the boy snorted.

Frustrated by the fact that Arun would now have to serve as a menial labourer, he decided to vent his anger on the boy. In a swift move, he seized the shovel from the boy’s hand and forcefully smashed him in the head. His anger still not having subsided, he hit him the teen in the leg repeatedly like a brute.

“Stop…stop it!”, the boy gasped between breaths.

A revolutionary militiaman took notice of the assault and opened fire with his AK-74. Arun felt a searing pain in his leg as he got shot with two bullets, causing him to collapse to the ground. He tried to get up but the intense pain kept knocking him down. The boy - having stood up again - tried to kick the former Prime Minister while he was down, only to be stopped by the overseer.

“Medic! Medic!”, the overseer called out.