Justice is the essence of a noble society. When the human beings started living collectively and formed culture and civilization, the justice system was the basic institution. Since those golden days, the justice system was prevalent but evolved gradually. Socrates had a vision to make Athens a just city. Socrates’ vision of justice could be different from today’s advanced 21st century. But the basic essence of all the justice system was to protect the suppressed class from the aggressor and to design such a system which should punish the aggressor and teach a lesson to the people of that society. However, the justice system across the civilizations has seen many undulations in the history of cultures and civilizations.
Even in India, in the ancient period, the justice system was inspired by the Vedic teachings. In the Medieval period, particularly in the Mughal era, the justice system was dealt by a separate institution called Qadhi. Qadhis were independent in upholding justice while many emperors would influence Qadhis in delivering justice. In the British era, the East India Company established a justice system later taken over by the Crown of England.
Even in present India, the justice system is mainly drawn from the British system of justice. In any developed and sane society, the basis of justice shall be its Constitution; so is in India. But unfortunately,besides judiciary we have two institutions which are transgressing their right and trying to deliver instant delivery of justice. Sometimes it raises the question:Are we following “The Prince,” a book written by the Italian political thinker Niccolò Machiavelli? But we should be following our Constitution which has been drafted with a loft of efforts and pain. Our Constitution is inclusive in nature and provides the rights for suppressed classes.
Our justice system is one of the best systems among the third world countries. But, alas our politicians with the eyes on vote bank have taken over some of the rights of judiciary and have been delivering justice through the institutions like bureaucracy and police. Deaths in police custody, shootouts and unjustified detentions are some of the examples. The recent encroaching in the justice system by the politicians is through bureaucracy which has been using a technique of the Zionist forces i.e. the use of bulldozer for demolishing a particular community. This aggression was never approved by any sane system and is totally against the basic human values. If the government resorts to such type of system to deliver justice then the result will be anarchy and unrest in the society.
The Supreme Court of India, though a bit late, has expressed its concern and unhappiness over the incidents of bulldozing houses of alleged persons or the property owned by fathers or relatives of alleged persons. It is the justice system which will define the progress of any society and the strength of any civilizations. So, if we aspire to become a global power and “vishwa guru” then we should individually and collectively think about the justice system we are following.