Though the maxim “innocent until proven guilty” is a basic principle of jurisprudence, it has ceased to have much significance in this country, for a variety of reasons, the main being that, in reality, the period of trial in India is so long that, by the time a case is decided, the accused could have already undergone a long period in jail, which is grossly unfair if he/she is found not guilty.
The Supreme Court has averred that “the right to a speedy trial is a fundamental right implicit in Art.21 of the Constitution and that if an accused is not tried speedily and his case remains pending before the Court for an unreasonable length of time, it is clear that his fundamental right to a speedy trial stands violated”.
Undertrials in India account for 75% of total number of prisoners and their number keeps increasing every year, on the pretext of shortage of Judges. There is no criminal justice system in the world that is infallible. But, unfortunately, our judicial system is infected with unjustified delays and unreasonable adjournments, making mincemeat of another maxim “justice delayed is justice denied”. Further, access to justice is a distant reality and regular adjournments, a burden to the marginalized or economically unstable.
It is indeed ironical that while there are lakhs of people languishing in jails, for years, in violation of the universal principle “innocent until proven guilty”, there are thousands, especially politicians, Ministers, Members of Parliament and Legislatures, who are happy beneficiaries of this very maxim and are comfortably enjoying the privileges and perks of the exalted positions they occupy, when their place ought to have been the jail and not the Parliament or the Legislative Assemblies. It may sound unbelievable, but many of our law makers, around 360 of them, have criminal charges framed against them, mostly running for six or seven years and a few for decades. The question which comes to our minds is why shouldn’t these cases be fast tracked, so that the real criminals and law breakers no longer sit as our law makers? Isn’t that a grave injustice to the public at large? Even cases of defections take years to be decided, giving the impression that they are deliberately delayed so as to allow the defectors to complete their full term.
It is glaringly and sadly evident that, not only the legislative and the executive but even the judicial system has failed us, though it is the only and the little hope we still have.
Noted British jurist and politician William Blackstone rightly said: “It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer”. The strength of our criminal justice system depends on its accuracy, its ability to convict the guilty and to clear the innocent. But we know that wrongful convictions do happen. Post conviction DNA testings have helped in identifying wrong convictions, in the last decade or so. Reportedly, there are hundreds of cases where accused are made to confess crimes they never committed, only to escape death penalty or life sentence. Others are induced to confess, when Police is under pressure from the public to arrest the accused.
A victim of a wrongful conviction has to travel a shoddy journey from the police station to the courts, thus violating his/her fundamental human rights. The question that stands before us is whether the government can reinstall all the lost years from the life of a victim wrongfully convicted.
It is really sad that many suffer in jails for no fault of theirs, but because of pressures from the ruling Governments, especially those which are intolerant of criticism. Some people are just framed, others are raided on some grounds, but what one fails to understand is whether such raids and subsequent detentions are justified, because people, with worse criminal charges and owing allegiance to ruling Party, roam about free. Even in Goa, we have cases which are dragging for several years and remain undecided due to the privileged positions the accused occupy.
At the same time, there are thousands of cases, where people escape conviction due to deliberate shoddy and botched investigations aimed at allowing acquittal of the accused. Finding someone “not guilty” is not the same as holding somebody as “innocent”. Lack of evidence allow people to go free, as it happened in the case of the bomb explosions in Margao on the eve of Diwali in 2009, though the motives of the accused cannot be erased from people’s minds.
Exoneration by Courts do not necessarily prove innocence of the accused. BBC documentary on 2002 riots in Gujarat was based on an investigation done, at that time, by the British Govt on a representation from its nationals of Indian origin. However, the Indian Govt pressed the panic button, arguing that the Supreme Court had exonerated Gujarat rulers and the issue was deemed closed forever. But, isn’t there a similar decision on Babri Masjid demolition, acquitting the accused, but would that mean that no one instigated it, when lakhs were involved? Two years back, BBC had also produced a documentary on Bengal famine during British rule, blaming Winston Churchill for deaths of lakhs of Indians.
While we may believe that every criminal should face punishment and the innocent spared the travails of the judicial system, this cannot happen without a strong Judiciary which will heavily penalize those suffering injustices at the hands of the Police and other bureaucrats, who meekly obey the dictates of their political masters. With a Chief Justice of the calibre of Dhananjay Chandrachud and his team of upright and bold Judges, the innocent and common man may hope for better days in the country.
(The author is a retired Banker)