Unjust justice system

Injustice and incompetence of Pakistan's criminal justice system have been highlighted by no less a person than the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Athar Minallah. Exonerating seven accused who had spent nearly 10 years behind bars in different murder cases, he felt "morally and professionally obliged to record" in great detail the reasons why the system is dysfunctional at every stage. "Whether due to corruption, complacency or sheer incompetence and lack of professionalism the criminal justice system is definitely not serving its purpose; rather it is perpetuating miscarriages of justice and appears to have become a source of grave injustice", observed chief adjudicator of one of the nation's highest judicial forums.

Where the members of weak and powerless sections of society are concerned the system's failure to protect the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right of citizens to a fair trial is staggering. The entire system is stacked against them. Investigation and prosecution may lack the resources/competence to do their job, but confessions through torture - prohibited by the Constitution - fake witnesses, and planted evidence are commonly employed at the behest of influential perpetrators of all manner of crimes, including murder. And the lower trial courts have no hesitation in awarding capital punishment while the appeals can take years and years to be heard by appellate courts. A couple of years ago, two brothers who had rotted in jail for 10 long years were acquitted by the Supreme Court declaring the testimony against them was shaky and the prosecution case flimsy, only to discover they had been hanged the year before. Then there are the findings of a research report prepared by two NGOs, Pakistan's Foundation for Fundamental Rights and the UK- based Reprieve. Between 2010 and 2018, the apex court reviewed 310 appeals against death penalty and revoked as many as 78 percent of them, ordering acquittal in half of them, and either commutation of the sentence or a review in the rest of the cases. Such outrageous disrespect for ordinary lives should prick the conscience of those who are duty bound to protect the life and property of all citizens, irrespective of their social status. No one should be made to pay the ultimate price for the crimes they never committed.

As aptly observed by the IHC, the present state of the criminal justice system is not serving its purpose ... all the branches [of the state] i.e., executive, the judiciary and the legislature are equally responsible for the prevailing conditions that definitely encourage corruption and perpetuate grave miscarriages of justice." Coming from the quarters it has this is a serious indictment of the system and merits the question, are those presiding over these institutions willing to shake off customary apathy towards average persons and offer them a fair chance to live without fear of being punished for the misdeeds of others, usually of those belonging to the privileged classes and their collaborators?