DailyPost 2113
APPROACH TO LAW!
Can the impact of law be different with the different approaches to law? Does the generally understood hard coded law deliver differently? Do we need to have reasonable synchronization of different stakeholders in the judicial administration of the country? Are there too many moving parts in the legal system to deliver structured, standardized and predictable results? From the concepts of the rule of law, to procedure established by law; can they act and deliver differently, while technically fulfilling all the criteria and also the procedure. When crime is being discussed persistently, so naturally the response to the nature of crimes, police reaction, judicial overreach and the rock solid established legal principles / directives, all start playing on people’s mind.
Are ingredients of any section of law be different in different parts of the country? If the answer is in the negative, why do find it being applied in a differential manner. Does it take any special acumen to make out the nitty gritty of any criminal action/s and the corresponding section of law for any practicing police officer? How does sections unheard of, at times become the lingua franca of the police? Applying sections of law correctly is the prime responsibility of the police and the supervisory officers are there to make it happen, without fear or favor. In today’s world of instant communication, once the case is registered and the sections known, the damage is done in not time, and there seems to be no future recovery from that. What should be the approach to law of the stakeholders of the criminal justice system is being prescribed day in and day out from every platform in this nation.
Why anything which is devoid of legal merit, not thrown out in the first instance, it should not have happened in the first place. Who is responsible for the agony and incarceration at times till the final acquittal? And we all aware of the conviction rates? Still cases are recklessly being registered. Is this the cognizance of a criminal offence or a punishment? Getting cases booked is used more as a tool of harassment and punishment by dispensations for a very long time. Is delay unacceptable in a variety of cases? If yes, then what are those cases? With the same law, think of hypothetical scenarios; you are not booked, you are booked under the right sections, you are booked for sections way beyond the offence you have committed and lastly, you are also taken into custody, with no immediate remedy in sight.
While our approaches remain what they are, we talk of the ideal situation, when in debates, and certainly at the judicial hearings /trails; all ideal systems of law come into play. And it should! How does the social / political / administrative / legal alignment happen? This was the idea with which the checks and balances and simultaneous synchronization has been created. Bail is the norm and jail is an exception. Is it playing in the same manner in the country? The conditions and offences are neatly laid out. Legality apart, is arrest not treated as a punishment? This is both a popular perception and feeling. A feeling to a level, that at times arrest itself is treated as justice delivered. The worrying facet is that you can create your own outmoded approach to law or a self-serving one and keep tuning it to the best of your ability. How many stakeholders you are able to pursue to align, is your success
OPERATIONALLY, APPROACH TO LAW IMPACTS RULE OF LAW CONSIDERABLY.
Sanjay Sahay