If one reads a well established textbook of law, he understands the theory behind Criminal Justice System. Generally in India maintaining Criminal Justice System is the responsibility of all the organs of the Constitution, the Parliament which deals with the making of laws, the executive which controls the institutions involved in investigating the crime and last the Judiciary which decides on the culpability of the crime. Now understanding the edifice on which the Criminal Justice System is build upon let's move to the present day trends. Today their is a large question echoing in houses of India about the efficiency and efficacy of it ?
Atom is Disintegrating:
Today the history has repeated itself and the era is of majoritarian government. The State through its power of absolute majority controls both the Parliament and the Executive i.e they are one who will make law and control the investigating machinery. Criminal Justice System without punishment is like a Atom without nucleus, a cell without DNA. Here is where the atom is disintegrating. If we look at the statistics of our courts we find that India is inflicted with a high delayed rate of justice. This delay has tremendously caused a feeling of mistrust in the courts. To this the state has to win the votes of public has encroached upon the powers of judiciary creating an illusion of spot justice through extra-legal killings in the shed of self-defence. This only perpetuates violence in the society and diminishes the power of judiciary. This creates an disconnect between the Government and Judiciary that weakens the foundational concept of checks and balances. It also blurs the line between Democracy and Autocracy.
The Bands of Violence:
From 2014 onwards the reports on caste-based violence has increased tremendously. The Upper Caste offender's being emboldened by the political class affiliations have made it as a norm violating the fundamental rights enshrined in constitution to every person in the country. This explains the public lynching of Dalits and forgotten episodes of the sexual assault's. Caste and poverty go hand in hand. The Bottom of the pyramid are the one who are also immersed in poverty lacking them the wherewithal to justice.
Next comes the violence on minorities which are done by the majoritarian dominant class for religious predilections. On the pretext of national sentiment they try to falsely legitimise their claims. Innocent Victim's are attacked for the things they wear and their physical appearance etc. This totally negates with the idea of tolerance which was much emphasised in 2 Century B.C itself by a great king Ashoka in his 'Dhamma'. Perpetrators use violence as a weapon to suppress the voice of dissent and instill fear so that a message of conformity percolates to the bottom and quell the oppositions.
"India confronts the violence which is has political, religious and cultural colors to it."
Way Ahead:
It's an alarming situation which should gain cognisance in the public. Their is a need for the overhauling of the criminal justice system with integration if technology to reduce the delaying of courts and increasing their efficiency. There will always be hostility between the one who create's a social disorder and one who endeavours to maintain it. It is our call now on which side of the coin we need to stand. Courts need to re-establish their lost faith of people in them by calling "a spade, a spade".
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