Ajmal Kasab issue: Does our judiciary need revision?

MUMBAI, INDIA: The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab on Wednesday. However, the Judiciary system took long four years or more to convict the 26/11 terrorist who killed and injured hundreds of innocent people in Mumbai in 2008.

''Not only Mumbaikar, every Indian has been waiting for SC verdict. We all welcome this and were expecting the same from SC,'' says Mumbai based Atul Bansal, Indiabulls Real Estate's vice president  Operations & IT. 

''The wait was quite long due to our judicial system, which needs urgent revision. No other country in the world will wait so long to punish such terrorist activity against the nation. Keeping enemies of the country alive for four years who massacred hundreds of innocent Indians on our own soil is a horrendous crime,'' says Bansal.

''As a Mumbaikar I feel this is justice done to Mumbai though late but law has taken its own course and punished the killer,'' says advocate Prashant Mali, Cyber Law Consulting's president.

Unarguably it's a landmark verdict but at a whooping cost of Rs. 26 crore to nation. And the figure will continue to rise until Kasab's death sentence is executed by government authorities.

''The long and lengthy prosecution process has been burden on India's spending. Government spent more than Rs. 25 crores of taxpayers hard earned money is by all means debatable,'' comments Mali.   

Also read: Is death sentence enough for Ajmal Kasab?

And it's unacceptable on any given day for any country including India to have an inefficient Judiciary system that involves lengthy cost incurring prosecution procedures and time consuming trials as it is said ''justice delayed is justice denied.''

The money spent alone on this terror case, does give a fair idea of how India's legal and Judiciary  system is costing dearly to its own people who await justice for years. This scenario clearly suggests that like most other government departments and organizations, the Judiciary system also needs to be automated using software systems and technology. 

According to Mali, out of three organs of Indian democracy namely Legislature, Executive and Judiciary, it is sad to say that Judiciary has yet to come to terms with IT.

''Usage of IT in lower Judiciary is almost negligent and usage of large scale IT like Case Management System and mandatory Video Conferencing for witness examining can speed up the justice delivery process as justice delayed is justice denied,'' Mali observes.

''Our Judiciary system needs complete overhaul as it is totally outdated and full of loop holes. Criminals (of any kind) are misusing and playing with law. Court should start using IT extensively to save time and money,'' Bansal stresses on the need of IT enabled Judiciary in India.

Taking a large view, Pune based Sharat Airani, Forbes Marshall's Chief IT -Systems & Security, points out that India not only needs to automate the Judiciary system but also needs to focus on cyber terrorism  as it is a major threat to the nation.

''Realizing the importance of cyber security and defense against cyber terrorism, countries all over the world are streamlining their defense networks, where some have merged their traditional armed forces defenses with technology driven security, others have established a separate and dedicated cyber security segment for themselves,'' explains Airani.

Further he adds, ''India also needs good techno-legal cyber security for its defense forces. India must urgently formulate good cyber security policy and effective crisis management plan for cyber attacks and cyber terrorism. The issue must be taken at the national level and a national policy is needed in this regard.''

While the experts are pressing on the need of IT enabled efficient legal and Judiciary system in India, it still remains to be seen now post the verdict — ''Will Kasab be executed soon or will he continue to live in imprisonment along with Parliament attacker Afzal Guru?''   

''I am sure of the fact that there will not be any implementation of death sentence till UPA in power. Even if BJP is in power, they will delay and will look for excuses. Vote-bank politics will overrule  patriotism and duty towards the nation,'' Bansal observes skeptically on Kasab's death penalty.

Even Airani critically says, ''There has to be some limit. Now we will have to wait and watch when is this D-Day of actual punishment getting practiced.''

Though Supreme Court has upheld Kasab's death penalty, the Pakistani citizen still has three legal options  — file  SC court review petition in 30 days, if unsuccessful then file a curative petition and if that too gets dismissed by court then ultimately file for a mercy petition with President of India.

According to Mali, between 1997 and 2011, the President has disposed off 32 mercy petitions, 13 of which were done after a 10-year wait.''I feel there should not be even a day's delay in disposal of the mercy petition of the convict as it was violation of the person's right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.''

Explaining the legalities Mali says, ''Section 302 IPC prescribes a maximum sentence of death but delay in death execution or disposal of the mercy petition amounted to imposing additional punishment on the convict "if not sanctioned by law".''

''Now political will of the state will play an important role to see if Kasab is hanged or not,'' concludes Mali.