Justice at last

The wheels of justice have turned at a painfully slow pace for the families of Baldev Singh and Lakhwinder Singh, who were killed in a fake encounter in Amritsar in 1992. At long last, a special CBI court has paved the way for much-needed closure. Two former Punjab Police officers have been awarded life imprisonment for eliminating both youths, who were falsely branded as hardcore terrorists and framed in a murder case. ‘Complete justice’, however, has remained elusive: five of the accused died during the protracted trial, while two were acquitted. The horrifying truth came to light only after the CBI, acting on a Supreme Court order passed in 1995, took over the probe into large-scale cremation of unclaimed bodies by the state police. That was also the year when human rights crusader Jaswant Singh Khalra, whose biopic (Punjab ’95) is mired in a censorship row, ‘vanished’ off the face of the earth. A CBI investigation revealed that he was abducted, tortured and murdered by cops. Khalra was targeted because he knew too much about the ‘disappearance’ of Sikh youths during the era of militancy in Punjab.

Those were nightmarish times for the border state — the carte blanche given to the police to root out terrorism led to extra-judicial killings and other excesses. Terrorism was eventually eliminated, but not before thousands of innocent lives were lost. Many police officers have retired or died without getting their comeuppance.

The verdict in the Baldev-Lakhwinder case should serve as a cautionary tale for rogue cops not only in Punjab but also across the country. Fake encounters continue to be a scourge as trigger-happy law enforcers opt for short cuts and ‘instant justice’. Commendably, courts are sending a clear message of zero tolerance; the political class and the police authorities themselves must follow suit. At stake is the credibility of the guardians of law and order — and also the sanctity of Article 21, which guarantees every citizen the right to life and personal liberty.