Key Concepts

• Faith – is by definition – belief without evidence or something held to be true because of confidence or dependence on what is believed to be true or trustworthy. Belief in God or in the Testimony of God or Prophet as revealed in the scriptures and the doctrines or propositions derived there from.
• Justice – is the rendering of what is true or merited in conformity with the principles of right, rectitude, honesty, impartiality and equity, where truth prevails (Satyameva Jayate!). It is a subjective concept that allows one to accept that what decision has been made in particular circumstances to settle a question and what happens thereafter because of that is a fair and an equitable resolution. Justice thus cannot always have absolute legal precision being more subjective than Law, and therefore at times be perceived differently. Justice is more than just the Law. Good judges decide according to what is just and right and prefer equity to law. Many times, law may need to be bent to serve the interests of Justice.
• Law – is a system or body of rules of conduct recognized by custom or by formal enactment, religious, ceremonial, moral, canon or common, which a Community or a Society considers as binding on its members. Laws cannot be expected to be perfectly clear for all situations. Strict application of the rule of Law can at times produce unjust results.
• Order – is the result of proper implementation of the laws of the Society.Laws that cannot be implemented are not only meaningless but also, detrimental to the very functioning of and faith in the system. It thus becomes necessary for the Courts to not only ensure that such un-implementable laws are not passed by the legislature, but that they themselves do not fall prey to the same error.

In ancient Times when people believed whole-heartedly in the concept of Dharma and recognized the applicability of the Law of Karma for their actions, or in-actions where action was called for, or even for their intentions, their understanding of fairness and justice was clear and simple and shared by all. Laws in those times were simple, known to all and justice was done simply and quickly and the punishment for infraction was generally accepted as appropriate by all.

When, in later times, the British set up the judicial system of Courts in India, the Judges were surprised when often the accused quietly accepted having done wrong and willingly accepted the punishment meted out. They did not understand that under the Law of Karma that the people in those days firmly believed in, a person would prefer to be punished and done with the karmic reaction to his crime at the earliest and be relieved not to face the prospect of carrying the burden into his next life. Ofcourse, there were always some who were afraid of the punishment and who ran away to seek refuge amongst the outcastes.

As time passed, Laws steadily became more numerous, nuanced and complicated and were not easily understandable by the common man. Professional Lawyers were soon necessary to interpret and argue the applicability, or otherwise, of the many clauses, sub-clauses and even sub-sub-clauses of the Law, especially in Civil cases, where the Law was looked at as the implementation of the terms of an underlying or implicit contract. In Criminal cases, the lawyers were often engaged more for their ability to question the concept of proof and the lack of validity thereof, if any, and to drag on the case till even such evidence as available evaporates or is compromised. We are presently only looking at Laws (Civil or Criminal as distinguished from Moral, Religious, or Common Laws) as established by Statute as a statement of a principle of Rights or Obligations in mandatory form, by a competent Authority, and under which enforcement of a Right or Obligation, or redressal of a Wrong, can be called for in a Court which decrees the meaning and extent of the applicability of the statute and the nature and extent of the Right or Obligation to be enforced through due process, or the penalty to be imposed on those guilty of violation as redressal.

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