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Journalism of Courage
We are prima facie of the opinion that the criminal justice delivery system is not in sound health.8221; So said a three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by the chief justice on Friday, as it dealt with the NHRC8217;s special leave petition on the Best Bakery case. The acknowledgement of systemic culpability is immensely welcome. And it is enormously reassuring that the court has decided to seize this moment to search for a larger response to the erosion of the criminal justice system. Because the Best Bakery case is not merely about assuring justice to the survivors and relatives of those who perished in the inferno near Vadodara in Gujarat 2002. It is not just about making sure that Zaheera Sheikh and others like her in Gujarat are not let down by the law and the court. This case is also about the absconding justice in the 1984 Delhi massacre cases. In which, 18 years and many commissions after, victims still wait for just resolution and closure. The Best Bakery case is important because it seems to have something to say about those unspectacular cases as well. Which may never make the headlines but in which the miscarriage of justice is just as total, just as inexcusable.
Cases, particularly sensitive ones, take forever to come to trial. As Chief Justice Khare pointed out, trials in most sensational cases are not started till witnesses are 8220;won over8221;. Witnesses are defenceless, while criminals seem to have easy influence with the police and politicians. In this context, the court8217;s direction to the Gujarat government to provide 8220;full and complete8221; protection to witnesses in the riot cases, and to the Centre to report on the steps taken to implement the recommendations of the Malimath Committee, is entirely welcome. We need to look again at what Justice Malimath said in his report on judicial reform. We need to talk about assigning a more proactive role to the court 8220;to search for truth8221;. To frame a witness protection programme of the kind that exists in several countries. Make the changes in the police system without which such a programme could never be successful. Dust out the proposals made by the National Police Commission to free the force from political interference. Yes, we may need to frame new laws and amend the criminal procedure code.
