active day for justice

Yesterday, October 23rd, was a very busy day for justice across the country with more than 50 life imprisonment sentences meted out on a number of cases. Perhaps the one getting the most sound bites was the conviction of former UP minister and current MLA, Amarmani Tripathi and three others, including his wife, for the murder of poetess Madhumita Shukla.

The second conviction was of 10 cops in the fake Connaught Place encounter in 1997, in which two innocent men were murdered in broad daylight.

The third conviction was handed out to 31 in the Coimbatore blasts in 1998, when the fanatical Muslim organization, Al Umma hatched a plot to assassinate LK Advani. The blasts had killed 58 people. One of the accused, their propaganda master, received four consecutive terms, running to 138 years. Another received 3 consecutive terms, while 10 others received double terms.

Another conviction which wasn't talked about as much as the rest was the conviction of 11 people in Kanpur who had charred to death 11 Muslims during the Babri Masjid riots.

While 60 life convictions in a day is unprecedented, I cannot help but think is this a mere coincidence? Or was there really something cooking in the judiciary to respond to the growing lawlessness in the country? Many people say both things. Lawyers say its no big deal, and the media is merely overplaying the judgments, which are the court's duty in the first place and not out of the ordinary.

Whatever the case, I am very happy that this has happened. People need to believe that the Indian union is still strong, despite the growing lawlessness and the resultant anarchy. They both work in tandem, and both weaken the state. With a defunct police system, crime goes on an upward spiral, and with crime going out of control, many people take the law into their own hands. The last few months are peppered with stories of public lynching and petty criminals beaten to death.

Everyone is unhappy with a lot of things. We are a very, very disenfranchised nation, and most of us are just looking for an outlet to vent our frustrations. Its not everyday that one gets to see solid reminders of a still active judiciary, which is important when we all know the executive has been on a downward spiral since decades.