Opinion In good faith: Why remission of sentences of Anand Mohan Singh and Bilkis Bano convicts is ethically wrong

The blatant misuse of the Constitution's humanitarian remission provision in recent times subverts the intentions of our founding fathers. The two recent acts of clemency have benefited convicts who have hurt the marginalised

May 11, 2023 12:20 PM IST First published on: May 11, 2023 at 07:10 AM IST

Recognising the links between the severity of crime and punishment is one of the fundamental mandates of the criminal justice system. At a time when intolerance, hatred, violence and the zeal to undermine diversity seem to have taken root in large parts of the country, the system should show greater diligence. Of course, no one should be condemned as a criminal for perpetuity. But an act of compassion towards a convict should not be insensitive to the victim of the crime. An act of mercy should not become a tool of oppression. In raising such concerns one is not alluding to a dystopia but referring to our lived realities. Remission of punishment is meant to uphold a sense of community justice. Today, however, it has become a tool of unscrupulous politics, for leaders across party lines.

The recent remissions of Anand Mohan Singh and the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case are not about temperance of justice with mercy. They seem to be politically-motivated. Articles 72 and 161 of the Constitution do mandate humanitarian remission. Sections 432, 433, 433A, 434 and 435 of the CrPC also empower the government to suspend or remit sentences. Remission should, however, not be seen as the fundamental right of convicts. A substantial body of jurisprudence clarifies the role of the state in matters related to remission. In Mahender Singh v State of Haryana (2007), for instance, the Supreme Court said that the state must give due consideration to every case of clemency, but it also said that no convict has a right to remission.

The constitutional provisions on remission were framed after lengthy discussions on crime, punishment, guilt and redemption. But mercy for convicts continues to remain a contentious matter. Acts of crime — and remission — cannot be understood in isolation from social hierarchies and politics. That is why sentences of convicts who have inflicted unequivocal damage on society should not be remitted prematurely. As this newspaper’s editorial rightly pointed out, “Anand Mohan is no singular criminal politician; he is representative of an ecosystem wherein crime, caste, and politics mingle to form a deadly cocktail”. The remission of his sentence seems to have been actuated by mistaken notions of mercy.

Shakespeare’s play Measure for Measure looks at legal provisions through the prisms of public good, social norms, cultural convictions and ethics. The play revolves around a question that remains pertinent in current times: How much law should be used to enforce morality? The temperance of justice with mercy is the play’s central theme. But at the same time, merciful justice is juxtaposed with strict enforcement of the law. Laws and principles of justice hinge on public respect. The play warns the polity of falling short on this count, “lest it’s more mocked than feared”.

In several of Arthur Conan Doyle’s works, people admire and loathe criminals simultaneously. They also find evil more alluring and find traces of greatness and goodness in hardened criminals. Elegant rogues fascinate people, but that does not absolve them of their misdemeanours. Franz Kafka’s Joseph K lives in inhumane prison conditions after being convicted of crimes he never committed, but he keeps his conscience alive. Kafka could not have imagined a world where hardened criminals and an apathetic state combine to create an atmosphere of fear.

The misuse of the Constitution’s humanitarian provision in recent times subverts the intentions of our founding fathers. The two recent acts of clemency have benefited convicts who have hurt the marginalised — Muslims and Dalits. The political class would do well to heed its conscience — the real mover of human life. Unfortunately, insensitivity looms large today. As the poet Sukrita Paul Kumar writes: “The newspapers read well/When nothing is happening/Children play with toys/ adults with their conscience.”

The writer is a bilingual critic and a professor of Mass Communication at Aligarh Muslim University