How many Indians knew about Vikas Dubey before killing eight policemen? Vikas Dubey was a gangster from the last 20-25 years, and he killed eight policemen on 5th July when they reached to arrest him. Then he absconded, roamed around neighboring states for five days, and then surrendered. Vikas Dubey charged in more than sixty serious criminal cases including murder, extortion, kidnapping, and rioting. He was accused of the murders of Siddheshwar Pandey, Rambabu Yadav in 2000, and Dinesh Dubey in 2004. Why was he out on parole even after so many serious criminal charges? Even several policemen were involved in protecting him.

This morning, while transiting from Ujjain to Kanpur, he has been shot dead by police in an encounter.  Police said the vehicle was overturned, Dubey tried to flee, and injured in the encounter. Later, doctors declared him dead in the hospital. The sequence of events is questionable. When he surrendered less than 24 hours before, why he would have tried to escape? If he didn’t try to escape, why was killed? Seems the police force has no faith in the judiciary. Police don’t want to drag this case in court for years, or police force was in a hurry to take revenge for the killings of colleagues. In a different view, police might be trying to hide the truth of police personals and politicians who were involved giving protection to Dubey in all these years. Judiciary and police force failed to do justice.

The Indian judiciary system is a very primitive system. The common law system based on recorded judicial precedents was introduced by British East India Company in 1726; Mayor’s court was established in Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta. This Mayor’s court system was replaced to Supreme Court after the first war of independence. In 1862, the Indian High courts act was passed by the British Parliament and the Mayor’s court was converted into High Courts. After independence, the Indian legal system has evolved from the British common law system.

Across India in 2018, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2018 annual report, 33,356 rape cases were reported. Rape is the fourth most common crime against women. Only one of the four rape cases result in a conviction. At present 46,00,000 cases are pending in High courts in India. Out of these, 50,846 cases are pending for the last 35 years. A sum total of 31.9 million cases are pending in lower courts. In the Supreme Court also 59,670 cases were pending as of February 2020. Why the unsolved cases piled up to this extent? Approximately 37% position in the judiciary is vacant.

Similar is the condition of police forces. All the states have their own forces; and the central government also has its own forces. Still, India has only 137 policemen per lac population, while the United Nations recommendation is 222 policemen per lac population. Apart from this, 24% of police positions are vacant, 35% of police vehicles are inadequate, 75% shortage in weaponry and available weapons are outdated. It is really sad to know that in digital India, we still have 51 police stations without a telephone across India.

Even after all this, Indian Governments are unwilling to change colonial law. At present, 29% of Members of Parliament of different parties are facing serious criminal charges of murder, rape, and dacoity. When it comes to states, Jharkhand has 62%, Delhi has 61%, UP has 36%, and Andhra Pradesh has 31% MLAs with serious criminal charges. Even Vikas Dubey fought the Shivrajpur Nagar Panchayat election while he was in jail and won the election. In 2019, the number of people who died in police and judicial custody is 1800. Most of the people died in custodial killings were assumed to be the members of opposition parties. The high number of criminals among policymakers is alarming. Is it the strongest reason behind pending reforms in the judiciary and police force? 

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