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Road Rage; Sidhu’s Sentence After 33 Years

Editorial . . . . . . . . 


Sr. Navjot Singh Sidhu, a former cricketer and presently a politician, has been sentenced to a year of rigorous imprisonment in the Patiala Central Jail for a case of road rage that dates back to December 1988 for an offense of “voluntarily causing hurt” to a 65-year-old man in the case. The Indian justice system took more than thirty long years to convict and sentence someone whose crime was never in doubt; even the accused had accepted it all along. Sidhu had been claiming that he had no intention of killing the victim. The victim was killed by a fist strike that he never imagined could kill someone. Road rage is an odd but all-too-common problem. Many people use the right of way at high speeds on roads and highways. What if there’s a minor mishap instead of a fatal one? It will undoubtedly upset road users, with some of them threatening to strike the person who they believe is simply too foolish to be on the road. Notably, Sidhu knew he would be punished for his blow in the road rage incident, which resulted in the death of the victim. He evaded the moment that finally caught up with him today for 30 years. Sidhu has worn various titles in the meantime, including cricket analyst, humorist, and politician. Despite being above average in all of these areas, he was unable to rise above mediocrity and reach excellence. He switched parties as frequently as he changed head coverings in politics.

He was deployed by Congress to compensate for the shortage of speakers from one election to the next. But no one knew what he aspired to achieve in politics other than becoming Punjab’s chief minister. Sidhu has always been a nice guy, with a good sense of humour and a willingness to hug his friends. He was a magnificent cricketer who dazzled us with some of those thunderous sixes before they became regular in T20 competitions. For the judiciary, however, taking 30 years to settle a case of road rage is unavoidable. Is it possible for citizens to receive justice as a service rather than as a privilege? Is it possible to take the support of the private sector to close loopholes and improve the efficiency of the Indian judicial system? When this columnist started his work twenty years ago, the most vexing public issue was the backlog of cases and the injustice of delays. Criminal and corruption proceedings dragged on indefinitely due to a lack of justice. Criminals turned into politicians by exploiting the delay in administering justice. Politicians have also become scammers. Ordinary people couldn’t afford long and costly court battles. Even when it was absolutely necessary to prevent the country from slipping into a mobocracy or mafia-raj, activists and members of civil society avoided being on the wrong side of the legal divide. Delays in justice hamper the country’s progress by impeding decision-making. It fails to prevent disruptive and anti-social elements from arising in the first place. The spirit of democracy and civil liberties is shattered. It’s also not good. It generates lousy leaders who only know how to abuse the official apparatus while avoiding legal repercussions. It lacks the vision to move the country and society forward.

We also need to press for strict legislation to fight this malady of road rage. Whatever the explanation, incidences of road rage are a matter of concern. It seems that these incidents are the result of a lack of patience and tolerance which are unfortunately vanishing from society because of many reasons. Such incidents should be prevented by adopting strict measures by the enforcement agencies. Moreover, it is better to be courteous and polite whether we are on a drive or off drive. It is advisable to avoid a conflict by avoiding eye contact with the person who is angry and in a high temper. The driving institutions, police, and other law enforcement agencies ought to organize training courses periodically to reorient the drivers about the ways to avoid road rage incidents. Finally, it is rightly said justice delayed is justice denied.

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