Mr. Vijay Karan, former Commissioner of Police, Delhi “Criminality is fast becoming a way of life and it has started appearing that crime does indeed pay. During the 40 years (1951-90) period, while India’s population increased by 127.6 per cent, crime went up by 146.9 per cent. If one presumes that about 50 per cent of the cases reported to the police are not registered, then it is obvious that crime has perhaps gone up by a frightening 300 per cent.” He further says, “The police point an accusing finger at the courts for indiscriminately giving both bail and anticipatory bail, …for taking 10 to 15 years to decide even simple cases. The police also blame the prosecutors for their lethargy and de-motivated approach to criminal cases. India’s correctional system is also in shambles, doing anything but correction, with excessively populated jails, bursting at the seams, where ganglords live in style, bullying and bribing the jail staff and continuing with their criminal activities, their alibis intact. Everyone blames the lawyers too for their cynical and mercenary attitude towards crime and criminals, not to mention their ways with the courts, the manner in which they go on strike on the most frivolous grounds and bring the judicial process to a grinding halt for days together. Though the police thus blame everyone else, they are no better either, with their image so hopelessly negative and gross among the citizens. In this scenario, the victim is the nation, which of course means the citizen. The failure of the criminal justice system is perhaps the most manifest in the state of India’s judiciary, which is in a condition of terminal collapse. Irretrievable caught in the vortex of pendency, it does not even know where the tunnel is, leave alone looking for the light. Desultory procedures, myriad stages of appeals, the licentious scope for both filibustering and adjournments, and most sadly, erosion of its reputation for integrity, have all crippled the efficacy and fair name of the judiciary.”
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 19:51:10 +0000
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