Of laws and sentences

There is considerable anguish at the arbitrary functioning of the Khap Panchayats in North India, and the spate of 'honour killings'. Now the Central Government is planning to introduce a bill in the Parliament towards stopping this atrocity.

With reports of 'honour' killings of young couples and 'kangaroo' court rulings on the rise, government today said it has drafted a law that will seek to put an end to such 'extra-judicial' actions. Law Minister M Veerappa Moily told reporters here that the Home Ministry has already prepared a Bill aimed at "putting an end" to such crimes being reported from different parts of the country. "The Home Ministry has already drafted a Bill, which has been vetted. It will be a tight law to put an end to such crimes," he said when asked to comment on the proposed law that the Home Ministry had prepared.

The problem with India is not the absence of laws, but the poor implementation of them. For example any 'honour' killing should automatically fall under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) which states "302. Punishment for murder.-- Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death, or 1[ imprisonment for life], and shall also be liable to fine".  
The maximum punishment of death by hanging can be given. Then where is the need for another law?
 

For a culprit to get the punishment he or she deserves, three arms of the government have to do their jobs properly. The investigating agency, be it the local police, crime branch or the CBI, has to painstakingly get the evidence and build a rock solid case. The Prosecuters office has to argue the case correctly in the Court and finally the Court has to sentence without undue delay.

 

The track record of investigating agencies is extremely poor. They are plain sloppy, untrained and frankly dont care. Just watch any crime or accident scene to know what I mean. You can see everyone other than the police trampling all over the place destroying valuable evidence. Then there is the tacit understanding between the police and underworld. Finally, there is considerable political interference. Mostly, the prosecutors office do a decent job, though they are also guilty of dragging their feet in the court. And judicial system is so slow, it takes ages to get a conviction. No witness in their right mind will come forward to testify for fear of being dragged to court for at least 5-10 years. And the witness protection program is non existant in India.

 

I have seen with my own eyes how dangerous it is to be a witness. When I was a HPCL Sales Officer in early 90's, one of my Petrol Pump dealer shot dead his ex-car driver at 12.40 in the afternoon in a suburb of Coimbatore in front of 50 people and bang in the middle of the market. He absconded, threw his murder weapon away from top of a hill but later surrendered. When the case came up for hearing, only 3 out of the 50 volunteered to be in the witness stand. Others were either afraid or compromised. While the hearing was on, the first witness, whom I know slightly, died of a 'snake bite'. After another two months the second witness, a perfectly healthy young man of 32, mysteriously died of a 'heart attack' and the third, understanding quite clearly how the other two were eliminated, turned hostile and told the Court that he didnt actually see the killing but just heard a shot, which was akin to a 'soda bottle' being opened. That was the end of the case. It is another matter that the judge was bribed heavily and the died Car Drivers family, which comprised of 3 unmarried girls, were terrorised not to go for appeal. The murderer got away scot free (It is another matter that a power higher than the Court punished him severely within another 6 years and he was a broken man full of remorse when I met him in 1998).

 

We need a system to speed up justice. That is the root cause of the problem pertaining to Khap Panchayats or Katta Panchayats as they are called in north and south india. People dont have faith in our Police and the Court to give them timely justice.