Best Example of Justice Delayed is Justice Denied
INTRODUCTION
Human rights are the key controllers of the modern era and should not be violated. Every person, who is a firm believer in human rights, will agree with the fact justice if not given at the right time, serves no purpose and is rather a violation of human rights. Indian judiciary system has not adopted the technological changes yet, which still results in the pending a large number of cases. Quoting present Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi highlighted, over 1000 cases are pending in the court for 50 years and more than 2 lakh cases for 25 years. It was also mentioned that there is 90 lakh pending civil cases, amongst which 20 lakh are such where even summon has not been served yet.
How are we imparting justice then? The number of pending cases is not scarce to avoid. In this article, some of the examples of how this phrase has been justified in the courts of the Indian judicial system will be discussed.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS PHRASE?
This phrase was coined by William Ewart Gladstone, one of the heroic politicians and Former British Prime Minister. He was a firm believer that justice should be given when needed. Everything in this world has a saturation point after which whatever happens, is useless. Similarly, justice should be served in a timely manner. If it is carried out later, then it is not proper or real justice, which is like a lack of justice.
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Whenever a person suffers any loss or damage, it seeks legal action, justice, and compensation. It is the duty and the responsibility of the judicial system to grant justice to everyone suffering due to some legal wrong. In seeking justice, people spend hefty in lawyer fees, law clerks, and other miscellaneous expenses, and it takes years to solve a single case. However, due to the hierarchy of courts, procedural and technical aspects, and numerous dates, the cases are delayed for a period that is beyond the control of human action.
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EXAMPLE
- HASHIMAPURA MASSACRE CASE[2]
A case of a massacre where 42 Muslims were brutally killed in Hashimapur. This incident of ‘target killing’ took place in 1987 decided the fate of the victims only recently in 2018, i.e. 31 years after the incident. The case was decided by the Supreme Court after an appeal was preferred by the family members of the victims.
The charges were framed in 2006. The trial ended in 2015 where all the accused were acquitted. After appeal being heard by the Apex Court, the final verdict passed sentenced, i.e. life- imprisonment to 16 policemen of the UP Provincial Armed Constabulary charged under section 120B of IPC.
- Safdar Hashmi murder case:
Safdar Hashmi and another politician were killed by political opponents while staging a street play. The accused were punished after 14 years, i.e. in 2003 by a court in Ghaziabad under section 302, IPC. Till the time judgment was pronounced two of the accused, amongst 12, were already dead. The decision punished the accused to life imprisonment since it came after 14 years it was equal to justice being denied for the victim.
3. Aarushi Talwar Murder case[3]
This is the case where justice was sought from every forum possible. The incident took place on May 2008 where the daughter of the accused was found dead in her bedroom with her throat slit. Initially, the accusation was on the servant whose body was also recovered from the terrace.
In 2015, the lower court convicted the parents of Aarushi and sentenced them to life imprisonment based on circumstantial evidence. In 2017, the Allahabad High Court acquitted the parents. This judgment was appealed in the High Court by the CBI after missing the time limit for filing the appeal. The Talwar’s have now been issued notice.
Who is the person guilty for this murder, and if the parents are guilty why are they not punished yet? The justice is delayed to infinite bounds.
4. Pallavi Purkayastha murder case
For the murder of this advocate, the security guard was convicted in 2012. The verdict was passed in 2014. After escaping the Nashik jail in 2016 while being released on parole and was absconding but he never returned to report in the station. He was traced with the help of the Jammu and Kashmir recruited informers. The verdict, in this case, was also delayed, and justice was not even granted because the person who was required to serve the jail term ultimately escaped and is still absconding.
5. UPHAAR CINEMA CASE[4]
This is one of the most intriguing cases of delayed justice, where justice was delayed to 59 people and 100 people who were injured. The fire broke out in the cinema hall during the screening of a movie called “BORDER.” The final verdict was passed after 18 years by pronouncing compensations to the victim. The inquiry report by the committee highlighted that the owners of the cinema hall were responsible. The verdict did not pass jail term but fined the accused with 60 crores paid to the Delhi Government in 2017. The trial which lasted all these years, no doubt granted justice but failed to grant the same on time.
6. BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY[5]
An industrial upheaval that shook the base of the nation and there are people still facing the repercussions of the mishappening which happened long in December 1984. The accident was a result of a leak of MIC (Methyl Isocyanate) in a factory in Bhopal, in which nearly 5 lakh people were affected. This can be a case that can be considered where even proper justice was not granted as the amount of compensation calculated could not sum up to the pain suffered due to this tragedy. The verdict was passed after 26 years of the tragedy in 2010.
The legal battle in India only after the American courts rejected to entertain the case on the ground of forum nonconveniens [6]. To ensure speedy justice, the government of India also passed legislation, namely the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985. In 2010 the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal passed the judge convicted the Chairman of the company and seven others, and the punishment was imprisonment was for a term of two years. The case had three absconders, and one person was dead before the verdict. This is not manipulated.
[2] Zulfikar Nasir & Ors v State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors; CRL.A. 574/2015
[3] Dr Rajesh Talwar and Another v Central Bureau of Investigation, 2013 (82) ACC 303
[4] Association of victims of Uphaar tragedy v. Union of India II (2003) ACC 114
[5] State of Madhya Pradesh through CBI v. Sri Warren Anderson ad others, Cr. Case No. 8460/1996
[6] Forum not agreeing
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