Let justice be done though the heavens fall

Humankind since its progression to the civilisational set up has been concerned to the greatest extend possible with the nuances of justice. With its varied embodiments, relational to temporality and speciality has occupied the centre stage of socio- politico discussions ever since. " To no one we shall sell, to no one we shall deny or defer right or justice", proclaims the Magna Carta. 

Though the ideal of justice has been conceptualised differently, sometimes in contradiction with each other, by thinkers of ever varying canons, stretching from Dharma of the Vedas and that of affirmative action, there seems to be a near unanimous consensus of it being the penultimate goal of any civilised society, expressed by Mansfield.

In India as in any other democracy law and judiciary as its protector has been the most realistic, pragmatic and this worldly embodiment of justice for the millions of downtrodden, bereft of cultural and social privilege of any sort. The law of the land becomes the last straw of hope to hold on to at instances of disillusionment and helplessness. Although as William Giddins argues, that we get justice in the next world, here you get law, law, with all its loopholes, as embodied in the legal documents becomes the only check to the vagaries of both the government and the elements of society. But the realisation of these goals and how many of us gets to materialise for oneself , the ideals envisaged by the Constitution remains poignant demanding further engagement.

 Despite the various human rights being institutionalized in our constitution , how many of us have our rights preserved. Law in itself, without its utilisation by those entities to it, renders it to be a dogma. As justice PN Bhagwati remarks, a" it is only the people themselves who must utilise law for the purpose of bringing justice to footsteps." It is to this extend inevitable that the citizens have basis legal awareness so that they can be the recipeients of these rights and privileges accorded to them by the Constitution.

The general public is inundated in the fear of police, legal procedures and the ever increasing long battles they have to fight in the courts for justice to be delivered. Although legal procedural dilemmas might be the element that pulls back people from an attempt at seeking justice, ignorance of the legal framework and judicial process appears to be the biggest deterrant to people seeking judicial intervention. With the inception of social media and the platforms, yet another arena of state surveillance and bullying by the fellow entities of the society, awareness of legal rights and entitlements becomes the only potential check to the scenario. 

While many perceive it as a threat to the democratic ethos of the nation, the question that looms large, demanding immediate attention are the millions of underprivileged who are condemned to live with these injustices despite an active framework for rectification. 

The Indian population with more than 35% percent of its population under the shackles of illiteracy, with governments over decades grappling to ensure even the basic education to huge chunk of people, the scenario of legal literacy is undoubtedly more pathetic and disturbing, often attracting meagre attention. 

Indian jurisprudence has had a long history of legal aids, its earliest roots traced to the medieval period when under emperor Shah Jahan and Aurangazeb, the state lawyers known as sharai wee appointed to assist the poor litigants. 

Jurisprudential clarity regarding the question of legal aids in the modern context has been envisaged for the first time under the aegis of Justice N.H Bhagwati & Justice Harris. The further developments on the culminated in the introduction of article 36(A) in the DPSP and the formation of the committee for Implementing Legal Aid Schemes. 

Justice P.N Bhagwati famously remarked in the verdict in the case of Katri Vs state of Bihar that it is " unfortunate even though legal aid is part of Art. 21 of the Const., most of the state have not taken decision to provide free legal aid & that is duty of the state to provide it to an accused person on account of indigence”. However the introspection into the reality of access to social justice of the underprivileged has been obscured in this metanarrative of legal aid. 

Legal literacy, comes in here, posing the question of the feasibility of accessing this aid without the required knowledge. 

Most importantly, the fundamental propose of the Indian Criminal Procedure Code is “ignorantia legis neminem excusat “ or “ignorantia juris non excusat’’ meaning ignorance of the law is no excuse, thus making legal literacy and awareness compulsory for all citizens.

The elaborate elucidation of the rights and other checks envisaged by the Constitution, for the protection of individual rights is robbed of its essence when the people entitled to it is unaware of the power accorded to them  

When judiciary is the last hope against vagaries of state and fellow perpetrators of crime, for the underprivileged, particularly the scheduled tribes and caste, women, and other socially and economically backward, legal literacy attains all the more of an importance. 

Despite the concerted efforts from the governmental apparatus, the machinery still remains aloof to the needs of these sections. The felicitation of these Constitutional privileges, in terms of financial, social, religious, of the civil society remains confined to the dominance sections.

The grotesque reality, demands a change. The question is not one of jurisprudence, but an ethical one wherein the 45% of the population of the country is languishing in all kinds of humiliations, unable to raise their voices and get their deserved due, as the principles of attributing justice Indian democracy enshrined, demanding intervention.

-Salma Mehar 

Content Associate