Ravulapati Seetaramarao

Amongthe major issues in our courts where the law is said to be no one’s friend, the systems are strangely running in four different directions. Is this happening only in our country? It is odd that those involved in “Criminal Jurisprudence”, instead of deeply reflecting for a solution, are moving towards a state of confusion.

In a judgment delivered a few days back, the Supreme Court directed that the accused may be released immediately, after stating that the police cannot arrest without stating the reasons or denying a lawyer, at the time of arrest. It also declared that violating Fundamental Right (Article 22(1) of the Constitution) is illegal. This is a landmark ruling that the police must implement. We must note that the Supreme Court warned that if the courts do not act strictly in accordance with the Constitution when anyone tries to infringe fundamental rights, arrest and remand procedures are undermined. It is imperative to follow this.

The Delhi High Court—just a few days ago—refused to accept the Special Investigation Team (like the CBI SIT) petition to register an FIR and investigate the huge amount of cash found at former Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Sharma’s house. It asked, in effect, whether there isn’t some other good work to do, and criticised sharply, saying that it seemed like an unnecessary witch-hunt in a forest.

Investigating agencies should register a First Information Report (FIR) the moment a cognizable offence is detected. Regardless of anything, it seems very odd if, when a crime has already come to light, the courts (including the Supreme Court) shield officials who have erred by backing them up and somehow justify another route (perhaps dictated by law, that the common person may not know of). Until the case details are fully known, we should only assume that the law does not favour anyone. That’s all.

Earlier, the Delhi Court criticised the inclusion of Sonia Gandhi in the electoral roll as an Indian citizen before she could even acquire citizenship, a move that the previous magistrate court order had dismissed. The Delhi Court accepted that order, sent it back for re-examination to the magistrate court, and ordered a fresh inquiry. Sonia Gandhi is considered a major political party leader who has been voting for years. Could she be rendered stateless and deported to Italy? Well, if only the people who understand and argue the law—lawyers—are involved, the courts can issue verdicts, and the police can enforce them. Even when we translate the concept of Criminal Jurisprudence, it is hard to capture the true “spirit” of the Constitution. Even scholars who understand the Constitution and statutes struggle to interpret them.

Across many periods, the courts and judgments have taken time, for many reasons that seem legally acceptable, police say so too! Governments, however, have occasionally set up special courts to expedite certain important cases, so that verdicts come out faster. That may be a good thing at least; perhaps it reduces some pendency to some extent.

However, some cases remain pending in court for years on end, but not even on a single day do the witnesses or accused step into court and there is inexplicable delay in the starting prosecution of such cases. These cases may be important in the eyes of the public, but they appear to be irrelevant to the courts and the government.

People say that the law does its own work, as spoken by a former prime minister of the country! Why P V Narasimha Rao said it that way is unclear to some, but the law’s functioning can be described as “slow and steady.” In fact, all classes of people are gradually becoming someone’s “circle” around the laws! Externally, though, they themselves are saying that the law does not belong to anyone.

In our country, every five years a citizen’s hearing senses come alive during elections! As soon as they become voters, their eyes and everything else start working in full force. On that single day, democracy stands still, and a true citizen rises to do his job. Then he retreats into his own “shell” and disappears! To fill democracy in this country, poor citizens dutifully perform their assigned tasks in the ordinary way, day after day! On that one day, he becomes a “king”!

Somewhere on one such election day, an elderly man, aging close to a hundred, is seen worried, he says, “It will be difficult for me to live until 2029! If I depart, what will happen to democracy in our country?” None of the people around him had the courage to answer for a while. But one wise man said, “It won’t go anywhere! To protect it, political parties, the legislature, the judiciary, and the executives, when they do their own jobs, instead of doing the job for their own sake, there is no room for democracy to fail in our country.”

With this, he turned away from the group, leaving with a sense of resignation that his maybe a tall claim.

As someone once said, “Democracy is like a cap without a shape; it perfectly fits anyone who wears it.”

(The writer is a retired IPS officer, who has served as an Additional DGP of Andhra Pradesh)