In December 2001, Enron – a high and mighty US corporation that was at one point of time, the seventh largest in the country, and whose executives were hailed as the gurus of the new economy, filed for bankruptcy. Yesterday, on May 25th, 2006 – within five years of its implosion, two of its highest executives were deemed to be guilty in what possibly was the culmination of an unprecedented era of corporate greed and dishonesty in the US.
However, there is an unusually bright lining in this dark cloud and it is that the justice system still works in the US. Whether it be a once highly respected congressman (Randy "Duke" Cunningham), a highly influential leader (Tom Delay - under investigation) or now, in the case of Enron – former pals of the current President Bush – the message is clear that if you are guilty of wrongdoing, then you will be prosecuted and you will be punished. It also proves another of my beliefs – that the US might have a large number of corrupt officials and leaders at the highest levels, but the country is kept on track by the honesty and law abiding nature of a majority of its citizens. In this case, these were the career prosecutors at the Justice Department and ordinary citizens who were members of the jury who stuck to their jobs with utmost honesty.
What lessons are there for India in the prosecutions and guilty verdicts of the past couple years in the US? It is famously said that “justice delayed is justice denied” – but in the Indian justice system – justice is denied because justice IS denied. After all, how many cases can you recall in which influential people were caught, prosecuted and punished? If you want a simple comparison with the Enron case, imagine Subroto Roy (of Peerless chit-fund and Sahara India fame) being caught and punished for financial irregularities when Amar Singh (shudder-shudder) is the Prime Minister of India.
There might be any number of text messaging campaigns to get justice and NDTV might use any number of them to improve its ratings, but the bottom line remains the same – the criminal justice system in India is hopelessly overwhelmed. While there might still be some reprieve in the famous and higher level cases which get considered by the Supreme Court – even at slightly lower levels, the system is absolutely rotten. The lesson in this verdict for India is simple – no country can ever claim to be great or progress too much without a justice system that works.
In December 2001, Enron – a high and mighty US corporation that was at one point of time, the seventh largest in the country, and whose executives were hailed as the gurus of the new economy, filed for bankruptcy. Yesterday, on May 25th, 2006 – within five years of its implosion, two of its highest executives were deemed to be guilty in what possibly was the culmination of an unprecedented era of corporate greed and dishonesty in the US.
However, there is an unusually bright lining in this dark cloud and it is that the justice system still works in the US. Whether it be a once highly respected congressman (Randy "Duke" Cunningham), a highly influential leader (Tom Delay - under investigation) or now, in the case of Enron – former pals of the current President Bush – the message is clear that if you are guilty of wrongdoing, then you will be prosecuted and you will be punished. It also proves another of my beliefs – that the US might have a large number of corrupt officials and leaders at the highest levels, but the country is kept on track by the honesty and law abiding nature of a majority of its citizens. In this case, these were the career prosecutors at the Justice Department and ordinary citizens who were members of the jury who stuck to their jobs with utmost honesty.
What lessons are there for India in the prosecutions and guilty verdicts of the past couple years in the US? It is famously said that “justice delayed is justice denied” – but in the Indian justice system – justice is denied because justice IS denied. After all, how many cases can you recall in which influential people were caught, prosecuted and punished? If you want a simple comparison with the Enron case, imagine Subroto Roy (of Peerless chit-fund and Sahara India fame) being caught and punished for financial irregularities when Amar Singh (shudder-shudder) is the Prime Minister of India.
There might be any number of text messaging campaigns to get justice and NDTV might use any number of them to improve its ratings, but the bottom line remains the same – the criminal justice system in India is hopelessly overwhelmed. While there might still be some reprieve in the famous and higher level cases which get considered by the Supreme Court – even at slightly lower levels, the system is absolutely rotten. The lesson in this verdict for India is simple – no country can ever claim to be great or progress too much without a justice system that works.