Delays in the timely delivery of justice are also involved in injustice

Written by: Shabana Ayaz

A few days ago, a
case raised many questions in my mind. The issue was land possession. A few minority women encroached on a Muslim woman’s plot during construction. That is, they included part of the Muslim woman’s land in the construction of their house. A fight ensued. The matter reached the police station and the court. Here the minority women were at fault. They were neither obeying the court orders nor cooperating with the police. It was clear that a powerful person/institution was patronizing them.
You see, the minority groups bear the brunt of the abuse that is them, and usually, there is a lot of noise for their rights in Pakistan and at the international level. They dramatize this self-inflicted abuse and get the sympathies of society on it. And they also blackmail by taking advantage of this whole situation. Whether such people belong to the minority or majority group, they slander their entire community. Then the opinion and feelings of the world change about the community they are a part of. These black sheep defame their community by their wrongdoing and stain it. Such a community then loses the overall sympathy of society. There is a need to rein in such people so that the community’s interests can be protected and they can avoid being defamed.
On the other hand, you all know how our thana culture is! Based on bribery and recommendation, the case can be given any shape. People who have ever come in contact with the police station and the police will understand what I am saying. By the way, the police system has been updated. If you have any problem, call 15 and mention your situation along with the area limits and the name of the concerned police station. Then after an hour or two, a call will come from the concerned police station saying, “Yes, tell me what the problem is.” Although after calling 15, there is a response order of 5 to 10 minutes. After hearing the problem on the call from the police station, there is silence. The person gets tired and reaches the police station.
On reaching the police station, if the person has a written application, it is registered, and a receipt is handed over to him that the person against whom you have applied will contact you and call you. During this time, weeks pass. When the rapist learns that there is an application against him at the police station, he acts evasively by bribing the police and using political influence. The police handle the application by threatening the applicant. The police give the impression to both sides that they are with both. The person who has been raped knocks on the court door after getting frustrated with the police or after a police case is filed. Requests a court hearing by paying the lawyer’s fees. Due to the backlog of cases in the courts, the matter moves at an ant’s speed. No matter how hard the person tries, weeks and months pass before orders are received. A problem could have been solved in minutes/hours after calling 15 drags on for months/years. In the case of the property, the construction has been completed. If the fight is a quarrel, the quarrel has taken a more severe form. And if it is a case of murder, the evidence has been erased to a large extent. Just yesterday, a gentleman’s mobile phone was snatched at the square. He ran to two young police officers in the police van standing before him and said that the motorcycle riders had just seized his mobile phone. You are behind them. Go, they haven’t gone far. But these policemen told him to call 15.
In other words, forget immediate justice and justice. According to a recent survey by Transparency International, the police rank first, and the judiciary ranks third as the most corrupt department in Pakistan. Here only the powerful class is getting justice, and only this class is heard. The opening of the courts overnight has opened the eyes of the people that the elite and powerful class is being given the justice of their choice by going out of their way. If the police are left, the party that has the most prominent and influential, the police, becomes its servant. In the FIR, provisions are imposed on the opposite party by the police, which takes years and years. It is only possible to provide justice to the remaining poor people. If he has access to an influential person, he will be heard. Otherwise, he does not have to push anywhere for justice and his fundamental right.
Dispensing justice on time is not only the judiciary’s responsibility but also of the police because their negligence forces many citizens to turn to the courts, due to which the burden of cases on the courts increases. In comparison, the challans are not presented in time by the police and prosecution department in the courts. Similarly, the frivolous behavior of the witnesses and the parties also hinders the timely delivery of justice. If all the stakeholders perform their responsibilities properly, the justice system can be fixed very quickly because delays in the timely delivery of justice are also involved in injustice.