How can justice be delivered in a
country where murderers and rapists go home after
payment of blood money or reconciliation with the
aggrieved party? This reconciliation is imposed more
often than not on the victimized party by threats or
intimidation. In other instances a payment as
compensation is settled with the harmed side and the
courts acquit the villains.It means that anyone with a
heavy purse and a gun can
shoot anyone in broad day light and
prevent the due process of law by undercutting it with
payment of money. The perpetrators of heinous crimes
like murders are usually goons with lot of money and
therefore law can be bent if they can pay for blood
money. On the contrary a poor guy who injures or even
kills someone cannot have such an escape route and
therefore languishes in jails for years and finally to
be hanged or awarded life sentence.
We have seen that in myriad criminal
cases a roughneck forced the weaker party to come to
terms and bargain to let the offenders walk their way.
Not long ago a high profile murder case hit the
headlines for pretty long time. The flamboyant and
defiant son of a super duper feudal along with his
equally roguish buddies killed a police officer with
impunity. The principal culprit was given death
sentence but was later freed after paying the
settlement amount with the aggrieved party.
I have been reading about flurry of
such court settlements in which the persecuted party
was coerced to state before the court not to pursue
the case because they had either pardoned the
offenders or had accepted the retribution by way of a
handsome amount of money.
There are various glaring factors that
hinder the swift, condign and deserving punishment to
the criminals and outlaws. It is seldom and unheard of
that any rapist even proven was ever punished by a
court. The lacuna is the presentation of four
witnesses by the female victim as evidence. The
production of this evidence is like asking for the
moon. As such all the rapists and womanizers remain
immune from the grip of law whether it is civil or the
Shariah court.
For the aggrieved party it is
absolutely imperative to produce the witnesses who had
seen the crime being committed. First of all it is a
tall order for the persecuted party to find out the
witnesses because most crimes are not committed in
public view. Second even if there are people who were
onlookers or present at the crime scene they would not
pick up the courage to come forward voluntarily or
otherwise to be witnesses for a variety of compelling
reasons. They would be aware that they would remain
under a perpetual spell of fear and paranoid as long
as the case is not decided.
Secondly, the cases on our courts take
years from start to the end. The witnesses have to
appear on each hearing before the court disrupting
their jobs, and other activities of life. One would
not wish or prefer to be caught in a grinding gridlock
at the cost of disturbing their life and peace of
mind. In the courts a witnesses is harassed, ridiculed
and even humiliated by the defense counsels each time
for hours. Any individuals even with strong nerves
cannot stick to a statement verbatim each time as the
prosecution or the defense make every effort to find
out contradictions to prove the witness as a liar.
The aggrieved party hires the false or
professional witnesses on payment for each appearance
in the court. He has to bring them fully protected,
take care of their traveling expenses and food etc.
Most of the witnesses that are produced in the courts
are therefore not genuine.
The evidence is taken after
adjudication of case for pretty long time. By that
time even if there was real eyewitness would forget
the real scenes and the directions and timing and the
faces and blah blah asked by the intimidating and
aggressive lawyers. If at all witnesses can be helpful
in the trial of a case then on the time of writing FIR
their statement should be recorded or at the first
appearance of the court. But even in this situation
the witnesses cannot get rid of the subsequent
appearances in the court that can prolong
indefinitely.
But wring of FIR is a highly technical
and legal job. It should not be entrusted to the
minions of a police station. In Pakistan getting in an
FIR written is a tough ordeal. The FIR is written
after settlements of bribe or under the orders from
the high ups. The FIR is mostly tainted and would
favor more the stronger party than the weak or the
victimized.
Now the police official who writes an
FIR is summoned by the court and he would remain under
a constant burden of being questioned by the court and
the hostile counsels each time. There should be
several cases for which he should be summoned when
needed to put up the official outlook. Is he a
computer to dish out the correct details about each
case?
In the face of all these stumbling
blocks and irritants in the way of dispensation of
speedy and fair justice, I suggest the following
corrective measures:
1. Changes should be brought about in
the legal system that should encourage more litigants
to use an expedited court process, as opposed to
arbitration.
2. The writing of an FIR should be
handed over to a magistrate who can have his or her
office within the precincts of the police stations or
an independent office adjacent to a police stations'
3. The FIR registration officer should
not hesitate or defer the writing of the FIR. Even an
FIR from both sides can be recorded.
4. A time frame should be fixed for
every case to be adjudicated and verdict announced
even if it is to be done on daily basis.
5. The condition of producing witnesses
should be dropped as it does not serve the actual
objective of dispensing justice because as explained
above, in most case the witnesses are paid and hired
to appear and briefed what to say.
6. Instead the circumstantial evidence
and forensic findings should be considered enough
evidence. The Witnesses are usually produced mostly in
criminal cases present at the time of occurrence of
crime. In case of civil suits like property, money
transactions the witnesses are mentioned on the
written deals. In such cases the tainted or tutored
evidence fed by a lawyer may not work.
7. In case of witnesses, the parties
concerned should bring them along at the time of
reporting the case or on the first day in the courts.
They should be questioned by the lawyers on the same
day and then liberated from future appearances. The
FIR or reporting center should remain round the clock.
8. We have seen in Pakistan that
despite incontrovertible evidence captured in a video
or Television coverage, the justice is delayed and law
is not allowed to take its course. So primarily it is
the mindset of the judge, the tricks of lawyer and the
the faulty system that delays and determines the
outcome of a case irrespective of the merits. As such
strict honest and rigid ethical uprightness should be
the yardstick in the appointment of judges. The review
committees or the appellate courts should have
authorities to criticize and even fire the judges
whose conduct looks suspicious, biased or
unprofessional.
9. The colonies and cabins of the
lawyers and sellers of the official stamps or
documents around the court buildings should be
disallowed. Instead of operating from the makeshift
booths they should be lodged in proper offices and the
court authorities should check their working
conditions. The touts around the court premises should
be barred. The stamp papers sold by the contractors
can be even counterfeit. The court fees and other
official charges should be deposited in a bank or in
treasury so that all the money directly goes into the
treasury. In America the fees are collected by at
counters located within the court premises.
10. Our court buildings are rundown,
broken stairs, with walls full of dirt and stains of
betel nut (pan). The design of the court buildings has
to be changed so that in one building all the relevant
courts can be accommodated. Designs and plans of court
buildings can be copied from the United States or
western countries. We have seen these buildings to be
immaculately organized, clean, dignified, elevators
working, and the court rooms fitted with all the
modern gadgets. We can make similar set up in
Pakistan.
11. It would also be in order to send out jurists and
judges and other members of judiciary to witness the
courts operating in advanced societies. There is a
dire need to streamline and update our justice system
that on the whole looks a mockery and negates the
dispensation of unalloyed and true justice.
12. In one of the counties in Texas in
one building I have seen around 30 courts for
different hearings. There is no noise or din or chaos
anywhere. There are county courts and municipal and
besides immigration courts. There are no touts or
people shouting at each other or courts interior with
broken benches and seats. There are no separate
judges' colonies as we have in Pakistan. Judges live
lie ordinary citizens in the cities, drive their own
cars and attend the courts. The judges are always in
the radar or under the watch for any kind of
misconduct.
13. For eradication of social evils as
theft of power, adulteration, maltreatment of the
citizens in government private departments and similar
felonies, the mobile courts should be established to
catch the culprits on the spot and award the
punishment. That would serve the imperative of swift
justice and save the litigants from a big hassle and
unnecessary spending.
14. The mobile court has to be equipped
with the appliances as computers and small labs for
testing the adulterated food items on the spot. A
magistrate with a posse of police should make surprise
visits in all the bazaars and shopping areas and
restaurants to check the prices of food items and
announce punishments on the spot. They can visit also
the hospitals for spurious and expired drugs, used
equipment etc or for unhygienic conditions or
negligence by the hospital staff. The electricity and
water thieves can be awarded punishment on the spot in
front of the other officials touring with a judge or
the magistrate.
15. The rapist and molesters should
never be allowed to escape under the Hadood laws or
for being influential persons. The eyewitnesses'
condition is irrelevant and unreliable. The forensic
and DNA can conclusively determine who had committed
the crime. Even otherwise the victims and their
families and the people in the area know about the
culprits and perpetrators of the crime. So on the spot
all information and evidence can be obtained that
takes years for the lawyers to establish and still in
many cases the culprits walk away unpunished.
The writer is a senior journalist, former editor of
Diplomatic Times and a former diplomat.This and other
articles by the writer can also be read at his blog
www.uprightopinion.com
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