This Article is written by Anantha Mounika, a Fifth Year Law Student of Telangana Social Welfare Residential Law College For Women, Hyderabad

Abstract

Justice delayed is justice denied. This statement will be used in the cases where the judgment or decision is taking much time for any concerned case. In some cases, like the Nirbhaya Gange rape case and the Babri masjid demolition case, for the judgment and verdict to be pronounced it took them 7 years and 28 years[8]. This itself explains that when justice is delayed by the judiciary will be justice denied even though later on the court gives judgments on those cases. In the Rape and gang rape cases if justice is delayed by taking advantage of the law in the favour of the accused and punishing the guilty person will be harder and takes a longer time to prove his guilty such times the victim and their family will be suffered mostly than anyone else. So, this justice delay was because of a higher population, no strict laws as compared to Saudi Arabia, China, UAE, etc, slow process in the legal system, and fewer judges. Let's hope that because of the new act BNS will solve the issues as well as pending cases in India.

Keywords

● Justice delayed is justice denied

● Rape

● BNS & CrPC

● Rights of the accused

● Rare to rare cases

● Burden of proof

● Joint liability

● Intention of the accused

Introduction

In India, there are 5.1 crore pending cases and 2.4 lakh pending cases on the rape and protection of children from sexual offenses (POCSO). Each day there is a report of 90 rape cases. William C. Gladstone, a former British statesman famously said that “justice delayed is justice denied”. Justice delays lead to issues of frustration, loss of faith in the judiciary system, injustice to the victim, evidence degradation, no witness & victim availability, memory damage, compromised rights of the accused, and no fair judgment, such delays increase the crime rate. There are some cases on the Nirbhaya Gang rape case, the Babri masjid demolition case, and Mahanadi coalfields ltd v. Mathias Oram. There is also a saying that justice hurried is justice buried. These 2 sayings in India have given more preferences. There are examples Afzal Guru case, the Hyderabad encounter case, hapur lynching case. This statement has to be given value as well as followed for prioritizing the efficiency & effectiveness of the justice system for fair and legal process to be followed[4].

Justice delayed is denied justice.

Justice delayed is justice denied means when in a particular case the judge gives the judgement after many years while the case is carried on in the court is denied justice. The cases will be delayed because of human costs, overcrowded court dockets, lack of resources & bureaucratic inefficiencies. In rape cases, the victim will suffer more than anyone mentally and physically. Some victims will be traumatized by such heinous crimes by the convicts. Those such victims should be taken into consideration while delaying any justice by the court as well there should not be justice given in the hasty and quick. So, such acts of justice are delayed and justice hurried mainly due to justice ignorance of which service to provide to the victim as well as people. The law should protect and give rights to innocent people and punish the offenders who have committed the offense. Such acts by the people who are taking advantage of the law wrongly for the delay of justice are simply a mockery of the Indian judiciary. Such things shouldn't happen which insults our Indian country for the ignorance of justice and its value in the legal system.

Effect on Rape Offences

In this kind of serious nature offences, the punishment should be high according to the offense committed by the accused. In India, According to IPC,1860, rape will be dealt with under the sections 375 and 376. According to BNS, the rape and gang rape cases will be dealt with under the sections 68 and 70.[5].

● Nirbhaya Gang rape case (Delhi)[3]

In this case, the offence was committed in 2012 on a medical student of 23 years old. There is a justice delay because of the rights of the accused and the mercy and appeal petitions by the accused. In the year 2020, the court gave judgment in 2020 for the execution of 4 convicts. In this case, there are other referred cases, Bhagwati Devi case, explaining the sexual offenses against the woman by the superior. Bhupinder Sharma v. State of Himachal Pradesh, case explains the joint liability of the accused by seeing the intention of all the accused. Pradeep Kumar v. Union administrator, Chandigarh, this case explains the burden of proof. So, Rape offences there should be cleared everything accordingly to the law for the judgment against those accused.

● Hyderabad encounter case (2019) [7]

in this case, explains that a veterinary doctor was murdered by the 4 accused. And the registration of the case recently they were killed by the police in the encounter of those accused. Many people are celebrated for justice but there is also the question raised by the people: is hasty justice fair judgment and whether the police follow the legal system?

● Kolkata rape case(2024) [6]

This case explains that some people are still committing heinous crimes and also daylight. These acts are mainly by ignoring the laws and lack of strict punishment and provisions for those offenses. It has been 2 months since this incident happened. Let's hope for justice in this case, no delay in justice. Because of this case, a new bill was introduced and given for the accent of the president on such a bill in West Bengal.

Effect on other cases

● Hapur lynching case [1]

In this case, it explains that the assassination of PM Indira Gandhi, the judgment was given in the year 2018 3 decades after the incident. The judgment gives life imprisonment to the accused for his offense.

● Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd v.mathias oram

In this case, the Supreme Court held that the Oft-repeated aphorism. This case filed by the tribal community on the land issue that they filed in a writ petition by the applicant was delaying it by half of the life of the community. Any delay in justice would be a significant denial of justice.

● Babri masjid demolition case [8]

In this case, justice delayed is justice denied. The case verdict came after 28 years on the disputed land by the Supreme Court to build the temple Ayodhya given to the trusted person and the government has to provide a site to Muslims for the construction of the masjid. This case is about controversy and communal riots. The public was criticized for the delay of justice.

Conclusion

“Justice delayed is justice denied” & “justice hurried is justice buried” [1] but these statements were followed in India for fairness and justice. But some people took advantage of these laws for injustice, unjust, and unfair judgment. There is only to achieve fair and effective justice by employing technology and other innovations to strengthen the legal process. There can be reduced delays through digital case management, video conferencing, electronic filing, Fastrack courts, enacting regulations on lawyer fees, legislating laws for peaceful work, investing in the legal system, providing staff, judges, services, and resources, and training them for the cases. There is also a case of Samantha in the UK which also explains the justice delay [2]. So, in rape offences, if there is a delay in justice will be nothing but denying it justice.

References

1. Jahan Ara, Justice delayed is Justice denied & Justice hurried is Justice buried: Reformation of Justice sys to meet the ends of justice without delay & haste, (February 19, 2023)LinkedIn,

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/justice-delayed-denied-hurried-buried-reformation-system-jahan-ara?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&utm_campaign=share_via, accessed on 16 October 2024

2. Andy nightingale, justice delayed is justice denied,(August 7 2024)ABI,https://www.theabi.org.uk/news/justice-delayed-is-justice-denied, accessed on 16 October 2024

3. Harneet Singh and Kresha Manoj Shah, NIRBHAYA VERDICT: JUSTICE DELAYED OR JUST A CLOSURE?,(March 23, 2020), Law Bhoomi,https://lawbhoomi.com/nirbhaya-verdict-justice-delayed-or-just-a-closure/, accessed on 16 October 2024

4. Bryan Schwartz, Justice delayed is not justice denied. consideration and concerns for addressing the national sexual assault kit backlog, CINCINNATI college of law, https://scholarship.law.uc.edu/uclr/vol90/iss1/4/, accessed on 16 October 2024

5. Content team, Gang Rape Under IPC/BNS,(July 28), De facto IAS,https://www.defactolaw.in/post/gang-rape-under-ipc-bns#:~:text=Section%20376D%20of%20the%20 Indian,for%20such%20an%20 egregious%20 offence, accessed on 16 October 2024

6. 2024 Kolkata rape and murder, Wikipedia,https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Kolkata_rape_and_murder, accessed on 16 October 2024

7. K.shankar,Why justice delayed,(February 2 2020) The Hindu, https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/why-justice-is-delayed/article30712548.ece&ved=2ahUKEwjpn9CSkJOJAxVNcWwGHXYoNAMQFnoECDMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2Hkv4s1cpO7VUyLMJEYUki, accessed on 16 October 2024

8. Pragya rai, justice delayed is justice denied,(may 22 2022),times of India, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/pragyablog/justice-delayed-is-justice-denied-43067/, accessed on 16 October 2024