The system of law and justice is in essence a simple one. A person gets accused of a crime, a board of lawyers, judges and jury assemble and pass a verdict on whether the accused actually did commit the crime or not and a punishment is decided upon, usually depending on the severity of the crime committed. Yet practically, this isn’t how cases unfold.
In India, cases take years on end to reach a conclusion. Furthermore, if the accused has “connections”, there isn’t even a guarantee if he/she would get convicted. One doesn’t even have to think at that high a level. Persons accused of petty thievery also easily get off by bribing the policemen and getting the case dropped. This really begs the question, is certainty of justice more important than severity of punishment?
A certain guarantee of justice would definitely be a move in the forward direction. First of all, the victims of any given crime would feel more empowered and supported. This is especially important since a lot of times, victims of a crime won’t even come forward to voice their complains. Why do you think women who are teased and catcalled at on a regular basis do not go to the police? First of all, this isn’t something what anyone would want to talk about, add to that the fact that it is almost guaranteed that the culprit would not be brought to justice. Hence, a lot of such crimes are not reported which doesn’t bring this glaring issue to light.
Secondly, severity of punishment is not an effective enough deterrent of crime in the first place. A lot of times I have seen people running the red light or driving in the wrong lane just because even if they’re caught, they can just bribe the constable a little less amount than what the challan (ticket) would cost and move on. I am pretty sure if there was a certainty of punishment (like cancellation of one’s license after three strikes) then the number of such cases would drastically drop.
The most important aspect of the current scenario is how invincible celebrities, politicians and rich businessmen are. Lalu Prasad Yadav was accused of the Fodder Scam back in 1999 but he was only convicted earlier this year and that too for just 3 years. So if you wanna know what is the punishment for embezzling the funds of a promising young state, leaving it in such a dismal state that it would rank at the bottom in an already troubled country, then the answer is 3 years. He still continues to inspire many up and coming young politicians today who probably will go down the same path without any fear of conviction.
Even if one agrees that certainty of justice is a better deterrent of crime, its implementation is just wishful thinking at this point. After all, the whole industry of lawyers is built on this concept. Every person is entitled to a legal consultation, and if he/she can afford expensive, highly competent (but not necessarily ethical) lawyers who can steer their ship back to safe harbours, there can be no objection to it. Furthermore, as long as public servants keep accepting bribes, there will be people who would offer bribes to get out of trouble.
Hence, the concept of certainty of justice is utopian in nature, but that shouldn’t stop us from at least trying. As good citizens of our country, whichever one that may be, we should report any wrongdoings we see, pay the fine instead of bribing a lesser amount to the officer, and if, for some reason we happen to commit a crime, come clean about it and face the music. Only good citizens can make a country great.
Should our punishments be more severe or should our justice be more certain? What do you think? Tell me about it in the comments section. Also, do not forget to follow me on Twitter if you haven’t already. For any queries or collaboration, you can always contact me.
Much love,
–SG
Good point!! Guaranteed justice should i think be the priority!! The intensity of the sentencing comes later.
Well written!!
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Thank you Mrs Radhika.
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Speedy judicial proceedings is the need of the hour. There are too many cases pending in the courts. This pendency has to be reduced first. Fast track Courts, e-Courts are some of the measures being worked out.
Regarding police system, we have ‘fear of police’ which must be replaced by ‘fear of law’.
Certainly a very good point made through a nice article!! Keep it up!!
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Thanks Amit and I do agree that fast track courts are the way to go forward.
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India sounds a lot like italy.long years before you have just stick,if you have it,and once you get there well….the punishment is not always appropriate.
I say the severity of punishment must go with the s verity of the act perpetrated but I believe that it is the certainty that must be invoked and that is probably the deterrent too.How can a harsh punishment be a deterrent when I know it might never come?
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That’s true. Although I must say I always assumed that you’re from the US and not Italy. 😀
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But I live in Ireland 😀Nearly a l cal one here now 😉
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Oh well, that’s good.
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Of course hoping that both are balanced is too much to ask for yet but at least ensuring certain justice will bring more hope when things go wrong. Making the punishment fit the crime is the next essential step.
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A bit hard to achieve, but true, this is what we should aim for.
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Yup…very hard to achieve!
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Whatever be the punishment, however stringent the law and order be, crimes cannot be stopped unless and until the public develops a moral conscience. And that’s what the system should focus on.
BTW kudos to such a well written article.🙂
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Thanks. I agree that the public, and we ourselves by extension, needs to change.
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Exactly!🙂
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I think both of them are equally important for a democracy to function. Preponderance of one will only undermine the other & I don’t think that’s healthy for any country. Punishments need to be severe as well as certain. But also a known fact, punitive measures do not guarantee good behaviour. And also given the large population of our country it becomes difficult to bring people to books, as our judges are running low on strength. So first preference should be given to assuring the public that justice will be done.
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Which, precisely, is the case in point here. Of course the punishment shouldn’t be too mild, but way too much emphasis is given to that part.
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Perhaps
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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Hey thanks for the reblog guy.
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My pleasure, Gem. Thank you, and have a good week. Michael
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Does such thing as “justice” exists at all? If yes then how to define it?
It’s much more easier with punishment and law (where we accept some things as right or wrong and to obey or not).
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Corruption has existed since the beginning of time with humans. Institutionalized corruption is world-wide. Same in America. One thing to think about, “justice” is a relative term and it means something different to everyone. We have a legal system, not a justice system 🙂
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That’s true, although staying in the confines of law is what defines justice in the modern world.
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The Condition of Judicial system currently is worse than what is reflected in your article. However, Justice and Severity of Punishment are not related directly. It depends on what kind of wrong on commits. If one commits an offence, he can be punished only if his offence is proved beyond reasonable doubt. And generally, lawyers create a doubt to keep the case pending.
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I mean yeah, the whole business of the lawyers is built on this. One can only hope for certainty of justice.
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I don’t live in your country, but I do think this is a universal flaw in all justice systems. The people who have the most money get the best counsel; consequently, they are able to avoid punitive damages.
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I think justice dispensed within the permissible time-frame, taking into account all the parameters is more important than justice awarded which leave many factors unanswered.
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