Recent reports in The Indian Express (September 2026) about fake cancer medicines manufactured by Krupa Health Care and supplied to more than 90 hospitals at a 50% discount, and another report (April 2026) about the pilfering of the costly cancer drug Keytruda (₹1.5 lakh per vial), whose empty vials are refilled with fake drugs and sold to patients, even in reputed hospitals, are deeply disturbing. Sadly, such incidents are nothing new.
Our country has witnessed numerous scandals and tragedies born of dishonesty, greed, corruption and negligence: counterfeit cancer and life-saving medicines causing suffering and deaths; contaminated food, urea in milk, lead in turmeric powder, and poisonous chemicals and pesticides in fruit and vegetables causing cancer and kidney damage.
Recruitment frauds such as the Vyapam scam, linked to more than 20 suspected murders; the prolonged sexual abuse of hundreds of vulnerable girls in the Muzaffarpur shelter home, where, according to media reports, the rich and powerful were involved; illegal mining in Bellary, destroying the environment and causing disease and suffering to millions; the encroachment of lakes, destruction of forests and mangroves, contributing to floods in low-lying areas; and reckless destruction of hilly regions in the name of development, with the connivance of corporates and politicians, resulting in devastating flash floods and landslides in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, with enormous loss of life and property.
Then there are the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat, repeated building collapses, and newly constructed roads and highways breaking down, causing innumerable accidents – often attributed to poor-quality construction and the corrupt awarding of contracts. Equally disturbing are cases of road rage and reckless driving, in which the wheels of the super luxury cars driven by the rich and powerful mercilessly crush to death, even poor children, sleeping on footpaths. Such tragedies raise grave questions about the value we place on human life, the misuse of privilege and the failure to ensure accountability.
The heaviest price is paid by the innocent: children who lose their lives, families shattered by tragedy, patients betrayed by counterfeit medicines, communities deprived of their livelihoods, and ordinary citizens forced to bear the consequences of corruption and negligence.
Accountability is a law of nature. Nothing can function successfully without it.
As D.K. Joshi, Chief Economist at CRISIL, has observed: “We have the best programmes on paper, but we fail miserably on delivery and implementation. Transparency, honesty and accountability – that is what is missing from our public policy.”
In this world, the powerful often escape justice through money, corruption, political influence or manipulation of the system. Evidence may be suppressed, investigations obstructed, and the guilty protected.
This raises a fundamental question: How can accountability be instilled in the hearts and minds of people? Without it, how can a nation truly prosper? How can the abuse of trust and authority in every sphere of life be checked?
Religion can play a positive and vital role in addressing this challenge. We may escape accountability in this worldly life, but we cannot escape accountability before our Master and Creator, the Sovereign of the universe. The reality of that ultimate reckoning cannot be denied.
The Qur’an reminds us:“And fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah. Then every soul will be compensated for what it earned, and they will not be wronged.” (The Qur’an 2:281)
“On that Day, people will proceed in separate groups to be shown their deeds. So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.” (The Qur’an 99:7–8)
The Qur’an poses a profound question:
“Does man think that he will be left without being questioned?” (The Qur’an 75:36)
It further declares:
“Blessed is He in whose hand is the kingdom, and He is powerful over all things; He who created death and life to test you as to which of you is best in conduct.” (The Qur’an 67:1–2)
Justice is a fundamental yearning of the human soul. It is for this very reason that we have established an elaborate judicial system, from the lower courts to the District Courts, High Courts and the Supreme Court.
Yet human justice often falls short. Corruption may protect the guilty. Influence may silence the truth. Power may obstruct justice. But no one can deceive the Creator, escape His knowledge or evade His final judgment.
It is the firm realisation that there is an Authority above every earthly authority – above the Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta, the FBI and CBI, and even the High Courts and the Supreme Court – an Authority from whom nothing can be hidden and who can neither be influenced nor corrupted, that can awaken a deep and enduring sense of honesty, truthfulness and accountability in human beings.
For even when human eyes cannot see, when the law cannot reach, and when the guilty escape worldly justice, the ultimate reckoning before God remains inevitable. No one can escape it. And for those who live with faith, integrity and righteousness, that Day is not merely a day of accountability but also the promise of eternal success and fulfilment of their deepest spiritual aspirations.