One of the characteristics of a mature, liberal democracy is that the rules (and laws) - whether civil or criminal - are applied equally to all the violators, irrespective of their social, economic or health status.
The punishment, if found guilty of a violation of the rule or law is directly proportionate to the offence committed and graduated as per the severity of the offence and does not have any relation or dependency on the other factors like social or economic status.
In autocratic or fascist states, it is the other way around. Irrespective of the nature of the offence, it is the social, economic and other considerations which determine the punishment, if any. The nature of the offence has little relevance to the deterrence and instead the mood, want or nature of the ruling leadership determines the nature of punishment.
Viewing it ass-backwards, one can easily determine the nature of the polity by comparing the punishments awarded to similar crimes at different times to differing group of people. Another indication is a selective commutation of sentences awarded, which one could argue is just another manifestation of the arbitrary nature of the polity.
Having said that and thinking over two recent cases in India left a nasty taste in my mouth. The first was the news that India’s oldest prisoner at 108 years is free - actually, he has been let out on bail after serving 24 years.
He committed murder in 1987 and was caught and jailed at that time - when he was 84 years old.
What stuck me was a report just 2 days before that a Supreme Court Judge had written to the Prime Minister to release an 80 year old Pakistani convicted for ... what else ... but murder - considering his age.
Whenever the top echelons (read it as the PM) of the Government is occupied by ‘refugees’ from the partition - people whose ancestral home lies in Pakistan of today, like I.K. Gujral, A.B. Vajpayee or Manmohan Singh - we can confidently expect the administration to jump through hoops to entertain any buffoonery in the name of ‘Confidence Building Measures’ (CBM), which in reality amounts to capitulation.
No wonder then that the story took legs and the PM wrote to Home Minister and that wise man in turn wrote to Rajasthan Chief Minister who with alacrity recommended a remission of the sentence and in all probability should be rubber stamped by the Governor. After all Governors should be seen to do something worthwhile, with goodness and compassion, instead of allegedly
In the name of human rights and compassion, are we as a nation slipping from democracy into some form of autocracy?
The punishment, if found guilty of a violation of the rule or law is directly proportionate to the offence committed and graduated as per the severity of the offence and does not have any relation or dependency on the other factors like social or economic status.
In autocratic or fascist states, it is the other way around. Irrespective of the nature of the offence, it is the social, economic and other considerations which determine the punishment, if any. The nature of the offence has little relevance to the deterrence and instead the mood, want or nature of the ruling leadership determines the nature of punishment.
Viewing it ass-backwards, one can easily determine the nature of the polity by comparing the punishments awarded to similar crimes at different times to differing group of people. Another indication is a selective commutation of sentences awarded, which one could argue is just another manifestation of the arbitrary nature of the polity.
Having said that and thinking over two recent cases in India left a nasty taste in my mouth. The first was the news that India’s oldest prisoner at 108 years is free - actually, he has been let out on bail after serving 24 years.
He committed murder in 1987 and was caught and jailed at that time - when he was 84 years old.
What stuck me was a report just 2 days before that a Supreme Court Judge had written to the Prime Minister to release an 80 year old Pakistani convicted for ... what else ... but murder - considering his age.
Whenever the top echelons (read it as the PM) of the Government is occupied by ‘refugees’ from the partition - people whose ancestral home lies in Pakistan of today, like I.K. Gujral, A.B. Vajpayee or Manmohan Singh - we can confidently expect the administration to jump through hoops to entertain any buffoonery in the name of ‘Confidence Building Measures’ (CBM), which in reality amounts to capitulation.
No wonder then that the story took legs and the PM wrote to Home Minister and that wise man in turn wrote to Rajasthan Chief Minister who with alacrity recommended a remission of the sentence and in all probability should be rubber stamped by the Governor. After all Governors should be seen to do something worthwhile, with goodness and compassion, instead of allegedly
- playing sex games in the Raj Bhavan a la N.D. Tiwari;
- allegedly land grabbing while relaxing in the Tripura Raj Bhavan a la D.Y. Patil;
- procuring passports to tax evaders and again, allegedly land grabbing while in Puducherry Raj Bhavan a la Iqbal Singh; or
- playing political games from Karnataka Raj Bhavan a la H.R. Bharadwaj.
In the name of human rights and compassion, are we as a nation slipping from democracy into some form of autocracy?
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