In July 1991, eleven Sikh men were pulled out of a bus at Kachlapul Ghat in UP, divided into groups of threes and murdered in cold blood by policemen. Attempts were made
to explain away this act by labelling the men as criminals in the possession of arms and ammunition. Nearly 25 years later a CBI court sentenced 47 policemen to life imprisonment for their role in the fake encounter. The order also notes that the investigating officer was not given a free hand and had to constantly take orders from higher-up. Many will say that the long arm of the law eventually catches up and that is true, but 25 years is half a lifetime and the patience and perseverance shown by the families of the slain Sikh men is admirable. The
judicial system can be frustrating and trying and the number
of years one has to wait for cases to reach their logical end reinforces
the dictum, that justice delayed is justice denied. Is
there a faster way of dispensing justice at least in important
cases? An encounter of this nature should have been fasttracked
through the system so as to act as a deterrent for others.
Quicker deliver of justice is essential or else people might
eventually lose faith the judiciary.
