Justice Delivered or Justice Derailed?
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: Ocotber 07, 2014 -

Mob trial is in vogue as a system of ‘justice delivery’ predominantly in rural areas.

In fact, it is not a new phenomenon out here in the State. Many people accused of heinous crimes have been lynched and their houses burned down by furious mob.

Numerous such cases are reported in the media every now and then.

In these cases of mob trial, it is questionable whether justice is delivered to the victim or justice is derailed.

Many people might feel that the victims have been delivered their due justice by punishing the culprits publicly.

But, there are other innocent beings who have also been punished by the mob just because they happen to be relatives of the accused.

Those innocent people are rendered homeless and ostracized from the locality just because of the misconduct of some black sheep in the family.

If this is justice, then what is the significance of the ‘rule of law’?

No law would punish any person other than those guilty. A fair trial is everybody’s right as far as the human rights are concerned.

The judicial system of the country may be awkward, but then people should not lose faith in the judiciary and resort to irrational mob trial.

There could be serious consequences in the society because of mindless acts of lynching and burning down of houses of the persons accused. The mob mentality should not go against the law of the country.

Instead, they should press the judiciary to speedup trials and deliver justice to the victims within a short time. In no way, the mob trial would bring fair justice to the victims.

People should not forget that many innocent are given injustice while trying to deliver justice to some people.

In the light of such mob trials, the Government should also formulate certain legislation to bring the situation under control.

Otherwise, the mob would take over the judiciary and run parallel law courts one day.

The country’s judicial system should be strengthened to expedite all pending cases, especially of serious crimes.

The police also need to be proactive and alert to avert any unwanted incident out of mob trial.

Revealing names of persons accused in murder cases is now a matter of serious concern. The mob would either lynch the accused or burn down their houses as soon as their names are announced to the public.

The authorities concerned should look seriously into such prevailing situation.

Moreover, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Police Department should also be enhanced to conduct proper investigation for initiating fair trial of the accused in the law court.

It may be noted that the judicial system of the country has been improved to some extent in the last few years.

For instance, speedy trials were seen in the case of Delhi gang-rape case and U-morok trader’s rape case in the State.

More improvement in the judicial system is needed to curb unconstitutional form of trial by mob.

Above all, legal awareness to the masses would be of significant help to social reformation against unruly practice of mob trial.