“Justice is the constant and perpetual will to allot to every man his due”.
Domitus Ulpian
As the principal of natural justice goes, it has been rightly said, “Justice delayed is Justice denied”, and in the context of Indian legal system, getting justice is a herculean, time consuming and an extremely expensive task. If you are seeking justice and want your voice heard in the temples of justice i.e. “courts”, you need to be ready for a prolonged battle. In some instances, these legal battles are so long that one generation is not enough, another generation and probably many more generations may keep fighting for the justice defeating the purpose of justice itself.
For example, suppose a man gets apprehended by the Police for a crime he may or may not have committed. I won’t talk here about the punishments meted out to such individuals at the police stations itself as it would open another pandora’s box; and specially to those who doesn’t belong to some privileged elite class. Let’s leave it for some other day. For now, let’s just talk about how the scenario unfolds further.
Police would take that man to the court for further legal proceedings as per the law. Police have its prosecution lawyer paid for by the government who initiates the legal proceedings on behalf of the government. And the man who has been apprehended and wants himself to be proven innocent would hire a lawyer to argue on his behalf. That lawyer in turn would ask money for the legal assistance he is providing, and rightly so. Otherwise, why would a lawyer waste his precious time and acumen for someone whom he might not know and for what purpose? And here the famed battle begins; “BATTLE OF THE LEGAL MERCENARIES”.
These legal mercenaries are the ones who fight the battles in the courts; courts hereby being referred to as “Arena” for further reference. A common man calls this arena the temple of justice; an oxymoron in itself. Do we fight battles in temples? No, in temples, we pray to god and ask for blessings; and not fight a protracted battle. So, when I call courts as arenas and not temples; probably I am right. And that statue of a blindfolded woman who has a scale in her hand and whom we reverently call Goddess of justice is a mere posturing to create an environ of piousness which nowhere exists. Battlefields are not pious just as the courts; and they are not meant to be also.
What unfolds in the courts are quite similar to the boxing bouts where two mercenaries fight; raining punches, jabs, hooks, underhand etc. trying to hammer his opponent and the Judges sitting in their chairs act like referees. This entire bout unravels in the form of complicated jurisdictional jargons, explanations of laws and it`s nuances; difficult to be comprehended by a layman. Behold! “BATTLE OF THE LEGAL MERCENARIES” has begun.
The more one can afford to pay, the better mercenary one can get. And that’s the exact reason why most of the times you would find that rich and powerful simply walk out of the courts scot-free even after committing heinous and grave crimes. Reason being they could afford a better mercenary in the ring of justice, the “Arena”. These mercenaries then boast openly that they can get even a murderer acquitted as they are master at punching the law fists in the arena. It is reprehensible beyond reproach but one cannot simply fathom how to stop it.
So, battle of justice is a sort of polished battle of gladiators where the one seeking the justice have to pay his fighter. The more money you can throw, the more seasoned fighter you would get and the battle would be fought in ring of justice, the “Arena”, over many sessions. You simply keep paying your fighter for every next bout.
And in courts, where millions of cases are piled up; when will you get justice is not guaranteed? How many hearings would you have to attend is not sure? How many times you have to cough up money is not sure? And this legal battle keeps moving from district courts to High court and then to Supreme court. And as you keep going, the cost of getting justice keeps increasing as the legal mercenaries who fight these battles in famed arenas keep getting costlier.
Is this really the way of justice; one can simply ponder? It simply turns into a battle of mercenaries; each hell bent on winning the battle for his own survival and to prove his wits and scholastic mettle. Winning the cases in the courts is like winning a bout in the legal boxing arena, where the clients pays the legal boxers to fight it out on behalf of them. And every victory in the arena ensures more money for the victorious lawyer.
Why is it so that you need to shell out your hard earned money in the so called temples of justice to get justice? Is it not the duty of the state to provide you justice? Here, I am not making a differentiation between legislative, executive or judiciary. I am talking about the state as a whole which includes all of them. Is it not the moral obligation of the state to give justice to its citizens? But it is not so. Here, if you have to get justice, you need to fight it all on your own. But it is not possible because a layman simply doesn’t know the sections and subsections of law, and their myriad interpretations on the basis of which justice is served. Therefore, one has to hire a legal mercenary who is an expert and who will charge you money for that. And how much would he charge and for how many times would he charge is not sure?
Can state simply deny justice to its citizens because they cannot afford the cost of justice? Justice is costly, it comes with a price. It comes with a price tag that some simply cannot afford. And that`s the exact reason many people simply keep languishing in Jails without even being convicted. Some languish in jails for so long that their number for trials probably never come up in court and even if it comes, it gets deferred till a second date. Who will clean up this judicial mess which we have mired deep into? Will judiciary itself comes up with a solution? Even answers to this question remains a utopia.
Till then, be happy and enjoy the proceedings of courts or better, the battle of legal mercenaries. Amen!
