A starlet and her co-accused has been sentenced by a Mumbai court and several TV Channels are abuzz with how there has been injustice to the family etc. The father of the person is on TV arguing for more severe punishment. TV anchors are asking the question whether Neeraj’s family has got justice.
This is a wrong question to ask. The prosecution in this case is not being run by the family. Murder is not a crime just against one person or his family. It is against the whole society and therefore it is the state which takes on the prosecution. The public prosecutor seeks justice for the society as a whole. There cannot be a tit-for-tat being sought by the family. The eye-for-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth is not the corner stone of modern jurisprudence. When someone disturbs the social order, society as a whole wants to punish such people so that others do not dare disturb it. Purpose of prosecution is not revenge but reformation and restoration of the social order.
Let us take an extreme example. There could be someone who is a violent wife beater or a drunkard or a wastrel and his family is probably very happy to get rid of him. The family may be happy that someone actually bumped the person off! But does that make murder okay? Society will seek to prosecute the murderer. The family of a murder victim can never be unemotional and therefore, are the last set of people who should be asked their opinion.
The family of the victims are always losers in the situation and nothing can ever restore the loss. There is no use asking the question whether the family got justice. The correct question is whether the society got justice; that includes you and me.
