Justice is truth in action!

There is a saying “Justice delayed is justice denied.” But that statement did not hold true today!

Justice was served after almost a decade of injustice! It was nothing but Justice which emerged victorious when a lawyer was convicted by the same law he took up a a profession to defend. Misusing his power and knowledge he almost got away with the henious crime of murder and rape.

The Delhi high court on Monday awarded the death sentence to advocate Santosh Kumar Singh, convicted for committing the rape and murder of Priyadarshini Mattoo, a Delhi University law student, eleven years ago.

"There is absolutely no doubt in our mind that what was required of Singh was exemplary behaviour being a son of police officer and a lawyer himself. Yet with a pre-meditated approach, he continued to harass the victim for two years," the Bench said.

"Inspite of repeated warnings by the police and his undertakings to them, he went about commiting the most ghastly act. The act itself sent ripples in society and showed how insecure a citizen can get against this kind of a person," the Bench remarked.

Santosh was arrested in 1996 and was the son of the Joint Commisioner of Police, Delhi and used all his handles to cover up evidence. The CBI took over the case when it was found that the police was handling the case in a shoddy manner. Santosh is claimed to have raped his fellow student junior from law college, when she was alone at home, then strangled her and smashed in her face with a helmet beyond recognition. After his acquittal, Santosh graduated as a lawyer and got married and even has a child. Singh was acquitted by the Sessions Court in 1999, a judgment that was described as "perverse" by the high court. The Sessions Judge G P Thareja had held that though he knew that Singh had committed the murder, he was acquitting him because of lack of evidence.

Finally a victory for all the people who felt disillusioned with the justice system after the acquital! Justice at times leans in favour of those who are well connected and in power. This was a step in the right direction and a landmark verdict by the Indian Courts to prove that there are still a few good people and that there is still reason to believe in the justice system. This case will go onto the Supreme Court and I truely hope the higher court will do nothing more than affirm with the High Court that this pervert deserves the death sentence. This is a small step in the right direction and more unknown Matoo's cry for their day of justice! Benjamin Disraeli once said in one of his speeches "Justice is truth in action." So it is!

"Better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness."
~ Chinese Proverb