A Criminologist's Dairy-60

A Criminologist’s Dairy-60

Account Criminology and Criminal Ju...

Wounded Justice

‘Wounded Justice’ is a strange and new concept. ‘Wounded Soul’- i.e., a heart pained and which needs consolation. Justice is a nebulous concept ; nevertheless, everyone has his own concept about justice. For example, an innocent person who was convicted and jailed got at last an acquittal. There, one might say that he got justice. Then the question is: ‘What type of justice ‘did he get? He got a justice, but a pained justice. First get a conviction and then get an acquittal! He was innocent as well. According to the present law, he is not entitled to get any compensation. There is no victim justice in such cases when someone is acquitted. An acquittal may be ‘an acquittal with benefit of doubt’ or an acquittal with honour’. In the former case, the accused might have committed the offence, but the prosecution was not able to prove the case beyond doubt. Hence, he was acquitted. Here, the question is: ‘Why did the prosecution put him into trouble with insufficient or inadequate evidence? ‘His acquittal is, therefore, not justice administration, but miscarriage of justice or ‘wounded justice’ administration. In the latter case, the accused was totally innocent, but was charge sheeted, put into trouble and finally got justice by an acquittal with honour. Here it is nothing but ‘wounded justice’ and certainly he deserves victimological compensation. But India does not have any law to give such victimological compensation for those who suffered wounded justice.

Mistake of fact-may be a ground to wind up a proceedings, but the question is: ‘Is it not wounded justice to wind up the criminal proceedings owing to mistake of facts?’ Disciplinary proceedings might be taken against innocent subordinates/associates and after sometime, it would be dropped. Is it not wounded justice to do so? The penal laws are so comprehensive that a police officer can register a case against people, put him in trouble and at last refer it as ‘undetected’- so can be done by influential politicians or the ruling Government. Of late, such misuse of power or abuse of authority is seen and cases are registered against politicians with ulterior motives which may be anything other than justice. No doubt, it is wounded justice administration. The inordinate delay caused in the disposal of cases too may be wounded justice administration. Some criminal cases do not have a natural end even after ten or twelve years of delay. The accused in such cases may get an acquittal at last, but the justice they receive in such cases is nothing but wounded justice. Thus to enumerate the situations in which wounded justice is administered are many and different. Because of the extent and intensity of justice administration, one may be inclined to call ‘wounded justice’ administration rather than ‘justice’ administration or ‘criminal justice a’ administration or ‘victim justice’ administration as the case may be.