DailyPost 1858
BROKEN SYSTEM PREDATORS
Has the criminal justice system in this country ever become robust so as to deliver, in large part, what is expected out of it? There is no definitive answer to it, suffice to say, that all stakeholders knew the direction which it was to be taken, and level of expertise, time, discipline and supervision, that would be required to reach the destination. There is no denying the fact that today, it is a broken system and it is coming out unstuck, in variety of ways case after case. The most worrying part is that stakeholders, having known the open cracks and crevices of the system, instead of trying to set it right or coming together for that cause, are looking for ways and means to make the best out of the system, in a negative manner.
In the process, it is getting more and more broken with every passing day. Instead of the correctly functioning system giving power to them, the stakeholders and their extended arms are finding bigger power in the current system and exploiting and displaying it to the fullest. They want to understand and practice the law they want and they have found enough elbow space to do that. The biggest stakeholder is the State itself, what is to be understood that equality before law applies first to it and all its agencies. That that highest court in the land giving directions in a closed and shut case, with innumerable witnesses, videos, tools of offence and fully loaded circumstantial evidence, does not forebode good for the country.
It’s a waste of all the resources which have been organized with such great difficulty for providing justice to the common man and for which he pays through his nose. What this broken system brings into play is unbridled power and very little checks and balances, in the real sense and the case lands in a tunnel with very little of justice at the end of it. Multifarious agencies get involved in cases, which should have been handled with professional precision delivering accurate results by one office of the concerned investigative agency, at the very best with some higher level of supervision. Everything is brought to the court level, which absolves them of their responsibility.
It is like playing ping pong with the system. The standing instructions, canons of investigation, even established law, by way of court judgements and rulings are thrown to the wind. Bail objection becomes the biggest act of investigative excellence, at times when it does not even fit into the already established procedures. Who is the victim and who is the accused becomes a thin line to be decided by people who know everything but for the sanctity of law? The top lawyers are ruling the roost from both the sides, by the opportunity provided by the broken system. Whosoever wins, the criminal justice system loses and the quest for justice becomes even more difficult.
’LET HUNDRED GUILTY BE ACQUITTED BUT NOT ONE INNOCENT SHOULD BE CONVICTED.’
Sanjay Sahay