Justice Means Equal & Fair Opportunity To Win Against Most Powerful, Even State Itself: Justice Sanjiv Khanna

Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge of the Supreme Court, said that the term ‘justice’ means the existence of rules that provide equal and fair opportunity to people to win against the most powerful and even against the State itself.He was speaking at the Odisha Judicial Academy, Cuttack on Saturday, where he released the ‘Annual Report-2022’ of the Orissa High Court and also flagged off the ‘District Judges’ Conference-2023’. Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar and Judges of the High Court attended the event.‘Justice’ In Criminal LawJustice Khanna stressed upon the roles of Articles 14, 21, 22(1), 38 and 39A of the Constitution in adjudication of criminal matters by the Courts. He said collective reading of Articles 22(1) and 14 essentially means that when a person is not able to afford a legal practitioner of his choice, he must be given equal protection of all laws.He underlined that the abovementioned provisions particularly emphasize the word ‘justice’ and said, “Justice can have various connotations and meaning but as far as justice in criminal system is concerned, it means existence of Rules that provide a right to a fair and a just decision. [It means] Rules that provide an equal and fair opportunity of winning against the most powerful and against the State itself.”Citing Desmond Tutu's famous quote — “if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality” — Justice Khanna said it should be the basis on which a judge ought to proceed when he decides that he has to take a more proactive and affirmative approach. But, he cautioned, at the same time the judges have to be extremely cautious as they suffer from internal and hidden biases and prejudices.Decay Of Truth In CourtroomsJustice Khanna said that with the advent of technology and social media, there is a huge decay in the spread of truth.“This [decay of truth] has happened because [there is a] huge amount of false information, manipulation of data, use of sensational guidelines to gain larger audience. [With] the rise of social media and abundance of online news sources, it has become easier to manipulate public perception of truth. This results in distortion of representation of events and issues. While finding truth and separating grain from the chaff is already a mammoth task for all of us, truth decay makes it almost impossible to uncover the falsities and deliver justice.”He expressed concern that there is an increasing disagreement about facts and data and also a blurring of line between ‘opinion’ and ‘fact’. He also said that the increase in misinformation has resulted in declining trust in the facts.Importance Of Procedural SafeguardsJustice Khanna underlined the importance of procedural rights in the adjudication of criminal cases. He said earlier there were a lot of discussions on the meaning of the phrase ‘procedure established by law’. However, after the decisions in Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India and other cases, it is fairly well-settled that the procedure established by law must not only be fair, just and reasonable but it must also be right, truthful and clear.While talking about criminal adjudication and procedure, he mentioned Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. He highlighted that under the provision it is ensured that a person, who is summoned or asked to appear pursuant to the notice given by the investigating officer, does not feel isolated or intimidated. It keeps a check on police aggression and abuse of power. He referred to the decision of the Apex Court in Prakash Singh v. Union of India, particularly the direction for establishing a police complaint authority. He lamented that the direction has not been implemented in several states. He also cited the recent decision of the top court in Satender Kumar Antil v. Central Bureau of Investigation & Anr., which has provided guidelines to streamline the process of grant of bail.Justice Khanna highlighted that in Satender Antil, the apex court directed the Courts to dispose of bail matters within a period of ‘two weeks’ with an exception of express provisions mandating the contrary. It also requires the courts to decide applications for anticipatory bail within a period of ‘six weeks’. The Supreme Court has also directed that the mandate of Section 436A, Cr.P.C. as explained by it in Bhim Singh v. Union of India should be followed. He then proceeded to analyse the statistics vis-à-vis the mandates and guidelines. He said from the data of the years 2019, 2020 and 2021, one will find that the ratio of under-trial prisoners (UTP) vis-à-vis the convicts was alarmingly high and the number of the UTPs is gradually increasing. Justice Khanna then referred to the judgment of the Supreme Court in Re-Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons, particularly the direction to set-up...

Justice Means Equal & Fair Opportunity To Win Against Most Powerful, Even State Itself: Justice Sanjiv Khanna

Jyoti Prakash Dutta

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