Expressing his grave concern over the ever rising pace of crimes, long pending cases in law courts and disparity in sentences awarded by different judges for similar crimes, Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan was full of praise for the Islamic penal code while addressing a workshop on “Growing Crimes – Deterrent Punishment: Search for Appropriate Theory of Punishment” in Hyderabad on June 27. The workshop was organised by an organisation of Retired Judges and National Academy for Legal Studies and ResearchUniversity at Andhra Pradesh High Court.
Citing the glaring example of Gulf countries, the Chief Justice observed: “People say the laws in those countries were harsh but it is a fact that because of the harsh punishments, the crime rate in those countries is very low. Women can move around even at midnight without any fear. In our country neither the women can move around without fear nor is there any respect for the traffic rules.”
Chief Justice Balakrishnan recalled that till 1857, Islamic penal system was in force here in India and the law and order situation in the country was very good. “The introduction of Indian Penal Code was a good move but the law and order situation in the country did not remain the same,” he lamented.