The main accused in the Eid day murder of a youth was killed in an ‘encounter’ with the police soon after. This is being touted as ‘justice delivered’ by the family of the victim and many others. Such encounters have become quite frequent in the past few years, particularly in Yogi Adityanath ruled UP. This pattern of behaviour continues because it has popular support.
The reason for this is the fact that India’s judicial system has consistently failed to deliver verdicts within a reasonable period of time. It is not unusual for the first judgment in the lower court to come some twenty years after the incident. As appeals naturally follow, the higher courts continue to take time. The final judgment comes in sometimes as much as forty years later, when many of those involved have already died. Pick up the newspaper any day to find reports on such cases. (The Rampur Tiraha case, for instance, still languishes in court decades after the incident!)
The effort that it takes for victims of crimes, or their families, to go through the legal process is severe punishment for them, while the perpetrators stay free and continue with their crimes, unimpeded. It is no surprise, therefore, that encounters are so popular, as also ‘bulldozer justice’.
However, while this may provide some relief to the common people and act, at one level, as a deterrent to criminal behaviour, the fact remains that it undercuts the rule of law and constitutional propriety. Criminals are required to be brought to court so that they are given a fair hearing, no matter how guilty they are. If this is not done, it is a failure of the system. The encounters follow the same pattern – the police do not even bother to change the script. The accused is ‘tracked down’ at some unpopulated place, his accomplice manages to escape, while he fires at the police. Depending on the gravity of the crime, he either is eliminated or receives bullet injuries in his leg. The public is happy to accept this version.
How does the political leadership convey to the police the need for an encounter? How do officials pass down this order? It makes everybody complicit and compromises integrity from top to bottom. So, if action is to be taken against an officer for some reason, how much can a compromised minister or CM take action? The people should realise the pitfalls of supporting such a ‘law and order’ strategy. What is required is judicial reform that delivers justice in time. So many other countries manage to do so, why can’t India?
