Hyderabad rape and murder case. A case that sparked a debate on law and order along with the judicial system across the country.
|| Anjan Kumar Samal
How an innocent lady doctor was burnt to death as a pile of garbage after repeated rape, questions did arise on the security system in the states as well as the delayed justice system in various heinous crimes throughout the country.
Nirbhaya case of 2012, the convicts in this case had not been punished so far. People were then starting to question why the justice system is so sluggish?
The government and the Supreme Court often speak of speedy justice through fast track courts.
Where such system is?
But in which kind of cases and how many cases should go on fast track and what’s the actual time frame to resolve, all these doubts have remained intact.
Now let’s talk about the Hyderabad case back.
In this case, the way the first state of Hyderabad again stood in favor of the victim, the government was forced to act quickly. When questions were raised about the police action, the police were also pressured to act quickly.
Suddenly news came in that morning, the four accused of the Hyderabad rape were confessed and Hyderabad Police took all the culprits to the spot of this unfortunate incident to investigate into the case of rape and murder.
Whereas per police version, four accused were trying to flee after attacking police in return of which all the four accused were encountered by Hyderabad Police on the spot. This encounter had created the image of Hyderabad Police , heroic. People welcomed the police with flowers.
But some of organizations also opposed it. Human right activists and organizations took cognizance of this matter and demanded action against the police officers involved in this encounter.
The said encounter started trending in social media. There was a perception in the general public that the encounter is the only way left for the culprits of such heinous crime. So that the victim can get justice immediately. But the law experts are raising questions on this. It is also legitimate to raise the question too.
Is it the justice to kill the culprits in an encounter like this?
Is it Murder or Justified Encounters?
The answer to this question is divided into two parts. A party who is suffering and who wants justice immediately. This aggrieved side got support from the general public and they stood in favor of this encounter.
Hurt by the long process of faulty judicial system, the common civil encounter is justified. The other side is with the judicial process which has a deep rooted relation with the constitution of the country.
Experts say that if the encounter is the only solution, then what will be the need of the court and judicial process? In this way the state will remain as a police state.
The core principle of law is that many guilty should be left out, but no innocent should be punished. This is an excellent system of our law. If the police had caught the culprits of the Hyderabad case and they had enough evidence to prove it, they could have proved it in the court.
If culprits are punished by the justice system of the nation under the legal process , then the common man’s faith in the law would have increased. Our country is a country run by the Constitution and the judicial system.
Such quick and one-sided justice system can prove harmful for the country, the public and the entire judicial process.
According to an article by Professor Kalpana, Director of the Council for Social Development, Kannabiran Hyderabad, “what did the police get by killing four unarmed accused under tight security? Value of a life cannot be returned by taking another’s life”.
This story is in complete contrast to Article 21 of the Constitution of India. According to Article 21, a person will be deprived of his life or personal freedom according to the procedure established by law, otherwise not. And in this incident, because of the police’s own arbitrary and the planned procedure to encounter is completely illegal.
In the end, how many corpses did we find in this doctor’s rape and murder case?
A woman was brutally murdered, but four of the accused were caught and killed in a week’s custody without any criminal investigation. These accused were killed while recreating the crime at the scene – i.e.- even that phase of the investigation was not completed.
Can hi-profile people be punished similarly?
After the Hyderabad encounter, there has been a debate on social media whether Kuldeep Sengar, Ram Rahim, Asha Ram can be punished in the same manner soon. I will term this question as political. Because the state needs to carry out any legal proceedings and its fulfillment depends on political will.
And history is witnessed that political parties have been seeking power often kiss the feet of all these types of alleged ‘Babas’.
So that they can win with their blessings. In such a situation, the political powers of these so-called Babas can be easily estimated. So those who raise such a question can only express their anger against the government and political parties.
Therefore, in a civilized and peaceful country like India, the justice system has a special place. It is not only the duty of the common citizen to respect the court of justice, but they should also follow the rule of law, which has the responsibility of making the law and getting the law followed it’s own course.
In a civilized country, the police cannot be allowed to murder the justice system like this under any circumstances.
