In India today we witness crimes being committed, but there is no criminal! During the first half of 2006, India’s justice delivery system was put in the dock and adjudged guilty. In a series of high-profile cases, the criminals have not been brought to book and there is widespread perception that the system has not delivered. Indeed, there is a near total failure of the system.
Witnesses who turn hostile have now become a regular feature, clearly pointing to the role of money and muscle-power. It seems that the effects of money and influence extend beyond the witnesses. Often, the accused are the kin of politicians and other powerful people.
A combination of shoddy investigation, poor prosecution, sheer inefficiency, corrupt authorities and general insensitivity in the society have ensured that the criminals go scot-free.
The impression seems to have grown amongst the well connected that they can get away with anything. Sadly, they seem to be right. It is difficult to recall an instance of anyone from the power-class being convicted - despite dozens of cases of corruption, rape, rioting and even murder.
The police - by and large - are willing recipients, as is much of the bureaucracy and politicians. As a result, the law and law-enforcers are neither feared nor respected.
India’s judiciary has, for long, been respected for its independence, erudition, and vision. The highest court has delivered many landmark judgments and has sometimes been a more powerful voice of the people than their elected representatives. Yet, the overall system is so overburdened, its arteries so clogged, that its heart is in danger.
Cases that linger for a decade or more - thanks to endless adjournments, transfers, vacations and procedural flaws - make courts the place to delay justice rather than to seek it. Add bribery, threats, false cases and hostile witnesses, and what you get is a mockery of justice. Little wonder, then, that those who can take the law into their own hands do so.
A number of reports and commissions have made some excellent recommendations for desperately needed police reform. However, the absence of people’s pressure has made it easy for politicians with vested interests to scuttle any reform.
Meanwhile, those whose voices carry weight with the government have focused on all other aspects - from privatisation and economic reform, to FDI and labour reform - but not on the pressing need for radical reform of the justice system.
The corporate world - and, indeed, all of the educated India - must realise that if there is one show-stopper for an economy on the roll, one deterrent to investment and one storm to end their shining party, it is social upheaval.
If over 160 districts in the country are “Naxal-affected”, at least part of this growing spread of violent armed action is due to the perceived lack of a fair and equitable justice system. The answer to Naxalism is social and economic justice, not merely more police forces.
1984 violence against Sikhs, forced exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir and their genocide, intrusion of foreigners in North East and sufferings of natives are some manifestation of the system not being made accountable. It is time we woke up.
Witnesses who turn hostile have now become a regular feature, clearly pointing to the role of money and muscle-power. It seems that the effects of money and influence extend beyond the witnesses. Often, the accused are the kin of politicians and other powerful people.
A combination of shoddy investigation, poor prosecution, sheer inefficiency, corrupt authorities and general insensitivity in the society have ensured that the criminals go scot-free.
The impression seems to have grown amongst the well connected that they can get away with anything. Sadly, they seem to be right. It is difficult to recall an instance of anyone from the power-class being convicted - despite dozens of cases of corruption, rape, rioting and even murder.
The police - by and large - are willing recipients, as is much of the bureaucracy and politicians. As a result, the law and law-enforcers are neither feared nor respected.
India’s judiciary has, for long, been respected for its independence, erudition, and vision. The highest court has delivered many landmark judgments and has sometimes been a more powerful voice of the people than their elected representatives. Yet, the overall system is so overburdened, its arteries so clogged, that its heart is in danger.
Cases that linger for a decade or more - thanks to endless adjournments, transfers, vacations and procedural flaws - make courts the place to delay justice rather than to seek it. Add bribery, threats, false cases and hostile witnesses, and what you get is a mockery of justice. Little wonder, then, that those who can take the law into their own hands do so.
A number of reports and commissions have made some excellent recommendations for desperately needed police reform. However, the absence of people’s pressure has made it easy for politicians with vested interests to scuttle any reform.
Meanwhile, those whose voices carry weight with the government have focused on all other aspects - from privatisation and economic reform, to FDI and labour reform - but not on the pressing need for radical reform of the justice system.
The corporate world - and, indeed, all of the educated India - must realise that if there is one show-stopper for an economy on the roll, one deterrent to investment and one storm to end their shining party, it is social upheaval.
If over 160 districts in the country are “Naxal-affected”, at least part of this growing spread of violent armed action is due to the perceived lack of a fair and equitable justice system. The answer to Naxalism is social and economic justice, not merely more police forces.
1984 violence against Sikhs, forced exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir and their genocide, intrusion of foreigners in North East and sufferings of natives are some manifestation of the system not being made accountable. It is time we woke up.
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