Systems failure, time to reboot

Of this, there is no doubt since the government8217;s own inquiry reports have established that safety standards were not met and that Delhi Vidyut Board officials violated their own rules thereby endangering the lives of those who went to the cinema.

So, fixing responsibility and punishing the guilty should take no time at all but five years on, nobody has been punished. The case is still caught in the incomprehensible twists and turns of our legal system. This despite the fact that the relatives of those who died are educated, middle class people who have poured all their grief and energy into the fight for justice.

For some it has become their life8217;s mission because they lived the horror of those who died.

We may not have the ability to ensure safety standards in our cinemas but we do have mobile telephones, so some of the victims described their last moments to the loved ones they called. In agonising detail, they described how they were seated in total darkness in a hall filling up with poisonous smoke.

Raman Sidhu, who lost his wife, sister, two children, nieces and a nephew came to see me shortly after the tragedy and said he would be haunted forever by his wife8217;s last phone call. 8216;8216;Now they are all dead8217;8217; were her last words.

At the time, I remember writing that Delhi8217;s highest officials, including the Lt Governor, should be arrested and tried.

In another country they would have been. But this is India, and we have learned to accept that the process of justice moves slowly and that when it comes to arresting rich and powerful people there is a problem.

So it is entirely possible that five years from now, I will be writing another piece like this one saying that our justice system is a national shame and that in the Uphaar case, justice has still not been done.

Every columnist has a right to have one personal obsession and I have no hesitation in admitting that mine is the justice system. I cannot understand why with a man like Arun Jaitly in charge of law and justice, there is still no marked improvement in an institution that so fundamentally affects every aspect of our lives.

Take corruption.

And ask yourself if it is possible to rid public life of this scourge without a justice system that functions at something resembling an acceptable pace? On a daily basis, we read about high officials caught with assets disproportionate to their earnings.

Last week it was former acting Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, M.R. Agnihotri, who was raided by the CBI and found to 8216;8216;have amassed property worth over Rs 1 crore8217;8217;.

The CBI appears to be conducting a sort of nationwide campaign against corrupt officials so last week8217;s raids also revealed that an Income Tax Joint Commissioner called R.A. Verma was found to have assets beyond his known sources of income: 8216;8216;Rs 22 lakh, two houses and four cars were recovered from him8217;8217;.

Will this deter other officials from making money illegally? No, of course not, because they know, like we do, that it is a risk worth taking since even those who get caught rarely end up in jail. Where, you may well ask, is Sukh Ram? It must be nearly ten years since he was caught with Rs 3 crore lying around his house. He was unable to explain where the money came from and spent a few days in jail but then he was released on bail and has carried on with his political career much as if he had never been caught.

Now, let us talk of terrorism and the justice system. And, let us remember both that Masood Azhar, head of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Omar Sheikh, alleged murderer of Daniel Pearl, spent five years in Indian jails.

Sheikh wrote a diary describing his activities in the cause of jihad and it lay for many years in the bowels of the Patiala House courts in New Delhi.

What does it say of our justice system if it takes five years for terrorists to be brought to trial? What does it say of our justice system that almost nobody who has instigated or participated in a communal riot has ever been punished?

The problem is not small. Not only do we need to speed up the wheels of justice, we also need to set up courtrooms that look like courtrooms and not decrepit store rooms. We need more courts, more judges and we need to repeal nearly 1,500 obsolete laws.

Experts suggest that Parliament be convened for a special session to deal with litigation. Some suggest restricting the appeals process and finding ways to reduce the pressure of civil cases on our courts.

Perhaps all these things need to be done and maybe it will all take a very long time, but can we at least see the first signs that some one in the government is trying?

Write to Tavleen Singh at tavleensinghexpressindia.com