It’s time to remedy the worrisome world of juvenile justice
An acrimonious Parliament session has just ended. There was no lack of fireworks. Both the LoP and the PM didn’t disappoint. One pitted Lord Shiva’s picture to silence vocal ‘Ram bhakts’ and allegedly hurt the religious sentiments of all Hindus by calling out the claims of NaMo, BJP and the RSS to be the sole custodians of Hindu heritage; the other hurled barbs of ‘balak buddhi’ and parodying dialogues of the Jurassic Age blockbuster Sholay.
The presiding officers of the two Houses of Parliament didn’t exactly cover themselves with glory. To be fair, Om Birla came off a shade better than the vice-president, who seems to have totally forgotten the dictum that respect has to be commanded not demanded. Perhaps the problem is with the kharhi boli (the latthmarr dialect) he is fluent in. Alas, tu-tadak has no place in parliamentary language.
Ordering honourable MPs to sit down with “baith jao tum”! Admonishing them like an ill-tempered, ill-trained primary school headmaster of yesteryears can only lower the prestige of the august office and deal almost irreparable blows to the dignity of the House. Birla has a perpetually agitated expression on his face, but he does appear a little more tolerant of the antics of the Opposition that without doubt transcended the lines of decorum trying to heckle the Prime Minister when he was addressing the House. However, selective expunging of remarks puts a question mark on his credibility as someone who has risen over partisan politics.
The only speaker who distinguished himself in this session marred by melodramatic dialoguebaazi was Chandra Shekhar Azad who politely, remained steadfast about prioritising issues that matter insisting that the elected representatives should not mix religion and politics all the time. One only hopes that the young man keeps alive the fire in his belly and steel in the spine. What a change from the cliches of Mayawati fast fading into the sunset. He pulled no punches reminding that the Dalit aren’t sheep to be herded and sheared by leaders however secular, charismatic or Machiavellian.
Some heat was generated by the inauguration of the swadeshi legal regime in the Amrit Kaal—finally getting rid of the colonial vestiges that have supposedly hindered the delivery of justice in India. The Bharatiya Nyaya and Nagarik Suraksha Samhita, as well as the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam are too complicated a subject to be disposed off in a few sentences in a hurry. It can’t be overlooked that the new laws were passed in a hurry, without much debate in the House, part of an ambitious overhaul of all things colonial.
But it would be unfair to blame all this on the BJP or, to be precise, the Prime Minister. The erudite CJI with deft footwork stepped outside the arena of contest stating that the issue is sub-judice, but other legal luminaries have called the exercise out as merely cosmetic changes and sleight of hand in labelling of the Old Wine. The questions related to crimes and punishment stare us frighteningly in the face.
As it is, countless accused are languishing in jails, denied bail under draconian laws that the courts criticise, but have not struck down as unconstitutional. The extension of police and judicial custody continues indefinitely. The burden of proof has shifted from the prosecution to the innocent. Equality before law and the fundamental rights to life, liberty, freedom of expression are at the mercy, nay whims, of investigating agencies and enforcement directorates. Changing laws can’t guarantee their fair implementation.
The implementation of the juvenile justice system is routinely misused by the rich and the powerful. The Pune Porsche hit-and-run case is a shocking illustration of tilting scales of justice. Two young lives were extinguished and prima facie destruction of evidence/misleading investigation couldn’t be whitewashed. The court spoke eloquently of the rights of the juvenile in conflict with law. Those who had sent him to custody were admonished and the youngster released on bail.
Does anyone care to recall how many underprivileged children are in correction homes, even in jail as undertrials with hardened criminals with not a glimmer of hope of bail? Another shocking case has since been reported. A 15-year-old addicted to betting, when caught stealing at the house of a 12-year-old he used to tutor, allegedly assaulted her, strangled her and set her afire.
By the same logic and under same legal provisions he should also be released with avuncular advice to render social service. The unfortunate poor, caught in the web of organised crime can’t even produce birth certificates while the rich can bring before learned judges top forensic scientists, criminal lawyers to demolish the prosecution’s case. A disturbing thought—how many juveniles are violently angry with society that treats them like disposable garbage?
Pushpesh Pant
Former professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
pushpeshpant@gmail.com