The great divide

Study the cases alongside. Or, rather, their datelines.

Study the cases alongside. Or, rather, their datelines. And draw the obvious conclusion: That so far as undertrial injustice is concerned, northern India is miles ahead of the south.

There’s a reason for this, says senior advocate K Chandru. ‘‘In Tamil Nadu, political prisoners in the ’70s and ’80s created a very effective network whereby anyone thrown into jail knew whom to contact outside for redressal. That network of activist lawyers still exists, and is well known enough to be contacted in need,’’ he says.

‘‘Also, unlike the north, there is a lot of trust in the judicial system in the south.”

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Delivering the IX endowment lecture on the ‘Role and Responsibilities of Lawyers in Dispensation of Justice’ in Chennai last week, Supreme Court Justice Raveendran elaborated on the subject. His theory was that, in parts of northern India, people were depending more and more on musclemen and unlawful establishments to resolve issues such as tenant eviction, money recovery etc.

Citing 2005 statistics, he noted a major decline in the number of civil and criminal cases recorded in Bihar, even as the cases registered in Uttar Pradesh—India’s most populous state—matched those recorded in numerically weaker Tamil Nadu.

‘‘People in Bihar seem to have lost faith in the judicial system, while the figures for the southern states shows that people still believe in the system,’’ concludes Chandru.

According to Akbar Ali, member-secretary, Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority, vigilant activist lawyers and a free legal aid cell ensures there aren’t too many cases of justice being denied. ‘‘The judicial system and the prison situation in South India is far better,’’ he says.

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‘‘The principal district judge or the district legal services authority visits the Chennai Central Prison, which houses undertrials or remand prisoners, every second Saturday. I cannot say everything is well. But the situation is far better here than in the north.’’

Ditto for Kerala, where a pro-active NGO network and a vigilant—if occasionally controversial—State Prison Review Committee ensure no undertrial period extends beyond a couple of years.

In the North, the only positive aberration seems to be Uttaranchal. Using existing safeguards and diligent monitoring—think Lok Adalats—the hill state has disposed of most pending cases, particularly those involving petty crime.

For instance, on June 3, when the last Lok Adalat was held in Dehradun jail, 48 cases of inmates were taken up and 32 cases disposed of. Nineteen inmates were released immediately and the cases of others were expedited. Over the past year, monthly adalats have disposed of 188 cases, and released 74 inmates.

SMA Kazmi in Dehra Dun

‘Bangladeshis’ and ‘ghuspaithiyas’: BJP MP Brij Lal stops five sanitation workers on road in to quiz them on video

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BJP MP and former UP DGP Brij Lal has sparked controversy with a video accusing five sanitation workers in Lucknow's Gomti Nagar Extension of being Bangladeshi infiltrators. Lal, a former IPS officer, claims to know how terrorism works and alleges that these workers are a threat to the nation. He appeals to CM Yogi Adityanath to deport them and claims they have fake identities.

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