This is a court of law. Not a court of justice.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
We err in seeking justice from a court of law.
Perpetrators of NIRBHAYA 2012 are still alive – that’s law not justice. Women in Hyderabad shouted “police zindabad,’ and showered rose petals, tied Rakhi and offered sweets to the policemen who had shot down the four accused-rapists in an encounter. The women were celebrating justice, not law.
Human rights activists are applying double standards and speaking with a forked tongue when they argue that the accused are presumed innocent till proven guilty, but the police are presumed guilty till proven innocent. Do only criminals have human rights? Do the others, the raped, the murdered, the police – don’t have human rights?
In India, more than 90 rapes are committed every day. In 2017, more than 127,800 rape cases were pending in courts but only 18,300 court cases were completed that year. Only one in four rape-accused gets convicted, the other three go free. The convicted are usually the poor who can’t afford to bribe the police to do a shoddy investigation, or who can’t hire top lawyers who can show them the loopholes through which they can sneak free.
Justice delayed is justice denied. The hoi polloi will continue to rejoice in justice delivered even if it is unlawful.
