The conviction of Sajjan Kumar by the Delhi High Court must have brought tremendous relief not only to the families of the victims but also to every member of the Sikh community. No amount of praise would be sufficient for Jagdish Kaur, who fought a relentless and brave battle for justice. Looking ahead, there is a need to set up special fast track courts to deal with such horrendous cases of mass murders, lynchings and mob violence. Justice delayed is no doubt justice denied.
A. Mohan,
Chennai
Kumar’s conviction is a red letter day for the families of those killed and all those who fought for justice. At the same time, it is appalling to learn that it took 34 years for this verdict, which describes the scenario of the justice system in our country. The BJP should stop playing politics with this issue as there are allegations too against its leaders in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Vidhya B. Ragunath,
Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
The case also exemplifies what is wrong with our criminal justice system. The law will ‘take its course’ only if the investigating and prosecuting officials are allowed to do their jobs without having to take orders from the ruling party. The courts must shoulder part of the responsibility for the unacceptably long time taken to convict the accused. It is inexplicable why judges baulk at working with a definite time frame to wrap up cases. Is it too much to ask the judiciary to bring criminal trials, including the appeal processes, to a conclusion within, say, a decade?
V.N. Mukundarajan,
Thiruvananthapuram