A recent judgement by the ‘Honourable’ High Court, on dated 10th December 2015, in a high-profile case, in which the judgement travelled from “Convicted – to – Not convict”, in a ‘short’ duration of 13 years, raises a lot of questions/doubts in the mind of a ‘Common Man’, especially on the working style of the judiciary. After witnessing the exactly opposite judgements in the same case, wherein one court (lower) adjudged the accused as convicted, while the other court (higher) adjudged the accused as not convicted, what more is left for the common masses, other than to keep hoping that the “Justice is actually achieved in the current judicial system”.
Who is right, who is wrong, whose judgement is correct and whose judgement is incorrect, is for the judiciary to decide, and we are not capable enough to comment on that. However, a simple question pops up in our mind, that if all the evidence are exactly the same in front of both the courts, then what is the reason behind such differences in judgement? Doesn’t this in itself raise doubts on the working style of the judicial system? Could it be considered as merely a matter of personal opinions of the respective ‘Honourable’ judges/benches? What if neither of the parties approaches the higher court in all such cases? Could justice be ever achieved this way?
Can the judicial system pat its back and claim that till date they have not adjudged any innocent person as a convict or set free a convicted person as innocent? If not, then have the judicial system ever tried to question the judgments made in the past by their judges? Why don’t they set up an enquiry in all such cases and come up with the actual reasons behind differences in judgement? At least, this will help them to remove any flaws that are presently existent in the system. Until the time, such drastic steps are taken by the judicial system the picture is not going to change. On the other hand, if the judicial authorities are satisfied with their working style and don’t think that it needs any kind of revamp then nothing more could be said or expected by a common citizen.
Herewith, I would like to quote the following paragraph extracted from my other Blog “India – My Country, My Dream”, under the sub-heading Judicial System. “Are we going to keep on boasting about our judicial system, or are we going to realize that the judicial system has failed in totality to leave its impact on the common man. Trust me not even a single person feels comfortable in climbing the stairs of the court. That is the very reason why people keep on suffering rather than filing their suit. The people governing the judicial system have to introspect and make drastic changes to gain the confidence of the common people. If the court can work at odd hours like 4-5 A.M. in the morning to hear the death petition of a terrorist, then we the common people are in a far better position to be heard 24*7. The alarm is ringing since long, better wake up before it’s too late”.
Now, it’s for the Police, Lawyers, Judges and every single person associated with the judicial system to at least ask such questions in their mind and search for the replies among themselves because we the common people are not authorized to ask any questions or raise our voice against the working of the judiciary. We, ‘Being Common’ people, don’t have any other option, but to ‘say’ that we have full faith and trust in the judicial system.
‘Hope’ is one of the companions that like to stay with the common people throughout their life. Maybe, that is the very reason that our tired eyes still possess the drops of hope for a new dawn to rise and brighten our life. We hope that someday, we will be able to witness a system where law and justice prevail over anything else.
Peyush Jain
Peyush Jain 