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People seeking instant justice because lawyers are defending criminals: Himanta
Sarma appealed to the lawyers not to sympathise with the accused in cases of crime against women, especially rapes and domestic violence, etc
Silchar: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday that people in the society are seeking instant justice because the lawyers are defending the criminals in courts.
The CM was addressing the 150th anniversary of the Silchar Bar Association at the premises of Cachar District Court along with Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and other senior lawyers.
“Today at Silchar District Bar Association, I told advocates that the reason “Instant Justice” in gruesome rape cases has risen is because society knows that an accused will use his lawyer to frustrate the judicial process. Defence lawyers must behave responsibly,” Sharma wrote on X.
He said that after the recent incident in Nagaon’s Dhing, where a 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by three men, thousands of people asked for instant justice instead of regular judicial process.
“They didn’t ask us to arrest the culprits or take legal action, they were seeking instant justice. It looks like people are losing trust in our judicial process, and this is happening because justice is delayed in many cases,” he said.
Sarma appealed to the lawyers not to sympathise with the accused in cases of crime against women, especially rapes and domestic violence, etc. “At least in the incidents of crime against women, please do not delay the process. Try to finish it within a year if possible,” he said. “Advocates must help the judiciary. We should not delay the justice. It creates frustration in society, which forces people to take the law into their hands, it sometimes triggers mob justice,” he added.
Sarma said they always wanted to remove the colonial laws, and after the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) arrived, they were even demolishing the old structures.
“We have Indiansed the judicial structures….Some are saying we have taken India 500 years back, but these laws are giving us our own judicial system,” he said.
However, some lawyers disagreed with the chief minister, and they said that lawyers are doing their duties and they are not responsible for any delay.
“Our job is to establish the truth so that an innocent person doesn’t get punished. We do not sympathize with criminals. For us, a person is not criminal until proven guilty,” a senior lawyer said.
Silchar district bar association president Dulal Mitra said he does not support the idea of the chief minister generalising lawyers.
“We have many lawyers who deny representing the criminals in such cases. Of course there are exceptions but please do not generalise us,” he said.
Mitra said that the chief minister was a guest at their event and expressed his views. “He is an individual and also holding a constitutional position, we respect that. But we may differ with his views. We have that right,” he added.
