Commentary/Vir Sanghvi

The judiciary has told everybody else how to do their jobs. Isn't it time the judges looked at their own system?

The second point has to do with the murders themselves. The general attitude seems to be: how dare they kill innocent people? The sub-text is: if the Maruti had contained gangsters, then, of course, it was fine to have murdered them in cold blood.

Despite the efforts of human rights activists, the reality is the Indian elite has given security forces a license to kill.

It started with insurgencies and terrorism when it was argued soldiers and policemen had no option but to murder suspects. Nobody would give evidence against terrorists in court, so there was no alternative but to bump them off.

It then spread to city police forces where the cops argued gangsters were always given bail by lenient judges. It would take 10 years to secure a conviction, and the criminal would still be at large. So it was much better to shoot him dead.

This is still the prevailing view in Delhi and Bombay. Every week the newspapers are full of names of 'criminals' who were apparently killed in 'encounters.' It means they have been killed in cold blood.

I don't want to argue the case for and against encounters but these killings have certain consequences that we don't fully appreciate. Firstly, a fair proportion of those killed are innocent. They don't always get murdered in Barakhamba road and hit headlines, but it happens all the time.

Secondly, once you give a policeman the right to kill, you risk turning him into a paid assassin. This has already happened in Bombay where the dons no longer hire hitmen. It is far easier to bribe a policeman to bump off a rival. The cop gets an award (in addition to his payoff) and no murder investigation follows.

Thirdly, there is no evidence that encounters make any difference to big city crime. The Bombay police began killing criminals in the mid-Eighties. Since then the underworld has actually increased in influence.

Fourthly, it is immoral and offensive to institute a policy whereby cops are promoted for murdering gangsters. It leads to such incidents as the Barakhamba road murders. Policemen look for people to murder so they can get promoted.

But finally, there is the key issue. All of this happens because the judicial system is so imperfect. The middle class supports encounters because it believes there is no hope of justice otherwise. I don't support encounters, but I understand the rationalisation.

Over the last 18 months the judiciary has told everybody else how to do their jobs. Isn't it time the judges looked at their own system? No matter how many public interest litigations you involve yourself with or how many politicians you deny bail to, there is no substitute for a judicial system that works.

Sadly, ours does not work at all well. Until it does we will not get rid of the encounter mindset. And the police will try and get away with murdering innocent people.

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