“Strategy to counter terrorism must be in accordance with Constitution and laws must reconcile human dignity with integrity of the nation” -- Justice J.S.Verma, Chairperson, NHRC

Justice J.S. Verma, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission has said that the main problems which the country is facing today relates to proper investigation of crimes and efficient prosecution of criminal trials. Adjudication and punishment of crimes also take a long time before the Courts. The problem, however, cannot be solved by enacting laws that do away with the legal safeguards that are designed to prevent innocent persons from being prosecuted and punished. The problem also cannot be solved by providing for a different and more drastic procedure for prosecution of certain crime, for making confessions before the police admissible in evidence, contrary to the provisions in the Evidence Act, for raising the presumption of guilt as set out in the Bill, and creating special Courts. The provisions seriously affect human rights guaranteed under the Constitution and violate basic principles of criminal jurisprudence as internationally understood. He was speaking at the All India Criminology Conference (Silver Jubilee Conference of the Indian Society of Criminology) at the National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science, being held from 1 to 3 November 2001.

Referring to terrorism, he said that the Government should adopt strategies, which balance the dignity of individuals with national security. Human dignity must be placed at par with the unity and integrity of the nation. Public interest will always out weigh individual interest but not to the extent that any one of them is rendered totally irrelevant. Any law enacted to tackle terrorism must be very closely scrutinized and must muster the strict approval of Constitutional validity. Legislature must see whether there is at all any need for such law and whether it infringes upon civil liberties. Care must be taken to respect the human rights of the citizens and avoid harassment of the innocent, lest the entire action must be counter productive. Strategies must reconcile human dignity with unity and integrity of the nation which the core values of the Constitutional philosophy. Laws alone will not help New laws will be effective only if supplementing the existing laws are not enough. The Government has to see whether the deficiency is in the law or in the manner of implementation, because if a situation is continuing it cannot be assumed that it is only the text of the law, which is inadequate.

Speaking about prevention and control strategies against crimes, Justice Verma said that prevention is always better than cure. However, strategies of prevention should cover both the preventive and the curative aspects. This can be done by deterrence of the potential criminals by means of efficacy and expedition of the curative measures; prompt detection followed by speedy and efficient investigation of crimes; competent prosecution and speedy trial.

The Chairperson also spoke about the need for international cooperation in tackling terrorism. He felt that modern technology today has changed the pattern and dimension of crimes and advanced technologies are more often misused than used. The events of 11 September 2001, has woken up many to the harmful effects of terrorism, which they should have noticed much earlier. India has been suffering from the ill effects of terrorist related crimes for more than 10 years now.

Elaborating on the different facets of modern day crimes, Justice Verma said that terrorism, narco-terrorism, drug trafficking, hijacking, cyber crimes leading to child pornography, trafficking in women and children and economic offences are all patterns of modern symptomatic crime. He felt that it was not the deficiency in the law and competence of people that was a hurdle in tackling these problems – it was more a lack of will on the part of the Government and a lack of awareness among civil society. Only community awareness and its involvement will ensure an end to this kind of crime.

The Chairperson also called for a need to enhance the forensic diagnostic facilities in the country as every item that helps to delay in the process of investigation hampers the administration of Criminal Justice. This area, he said, has not been taken care of in the proper sense by the Government even after repeated requests and reminders.