An independent, impartial, ethical and efficient Judiciary is the best guarantor of not only security of life, liberty and dignity of citizens but also the vigour, vitality and cohesion of a nation. Internal peace and harmony have perennially been the bedrock of vibrant societies and robust states.
CASE OF CEUTA: DID JUDICIARY DENT SECURITY?
In concluding part of my last post on
Judiciary, I had mentioned that the institutional capture by cartels and syndicates was the biggest
betrayal of democracy. Cartels - of crime and corruption,
under larger patronage of opaque global forces- can exploit open spaces offered by democracies to capture key institutions of state. This dents capacity of democracies to govern themselves in the best interest of their own security as well as wellbeing of their own people.
Recent developments in Spanish territory
of Ceuta – where thousands of military age male from neighbouring
Morocco took over streets, looting public stores, destroying assets,
stabbing people, molesting and raping women and breaking into houses of
peaceful residents- becomes relevant. There is a strong opinion that the crisis is an outcome of sustained erosion in efficacy of judicial systems over last few decades. Spanish courts, of late, have faced
persistent allegations of declining capacity to implement reform
laws and contain corruption in society, including its own ranks. Sluggish judicial processes and dwindling autonomy of judiciary are believed to have dented
the agility and dynamism of entire domestic institutions. Hence, they failed to
proactively anticipate, assess and deal with unexpected crisis. Every failure does not lead to a spectacle as many lapses quietly erode vigour and vitality of societies and states. By the time it gets too obvious, it is often too late.
Spain is still a powerful state, despite hostile gestures of President Trump. It should overcome the crises
in Ceuta, but the episode shall leave a permanent scar on its people. Further,
it is no guarantee that it shall not face bigger and irreversible
problems if its collective energies continue to be choked by internal discords and
inefficient judiciary. This is also a lesson for other nations facing similar or more intense problems.
FORMIDABLE CHALLENGES OF INDIA:
Probably the challenges in India are far more intense and serious even though it cannot be compared with Spain. No part of India faces the predicament of a small territory like Ceuta, strategic located across a vulnerable strait like Gibraltar, with contested sovereignty over centuries, and highly intense threats from radicalised forces of North Africa. Yet every state and every region their own share of challenges and threats, which call for optimal preparedness all the time.
But when judiciary loses its efficacy in any state, it dents capacity of institutions and morale of people both to stay prepared for unexpected challenges and threats. An inefficient judiciary, incapable of fulfilling its sacred obligation to uphold rule of law in a democracy, brings the entire governance edifice under severe stress. The net outcome is erosion social trust and fracture of social cohesion. These dent morale of not only upright and ethical citizens but even upright and professional functionaries of the state. If the situation stays unremedied for long, states experience erosion in their capacity to fulfill even their most fundamental obligations.
A large developing state with fragile or subverted institutions, especially the criminal justice system, amidst serious external threat, in the current technology driven globalised world, is far more vulnerable to unexpected disasters. The consequences may impact not only the masses but even the elite. The threat need not always be in the form of external military or terrorist attacks. From natural calamities to polluted air and water to poor civic amenities and dysfunctional institutions to serious economic and technological stagnation to inability of state to negotiate with complex external challenges etc can impact lives for all to varying degrees.
Even if a state is
able to endure and emerge from a major crisis, the scar on its psyche is more often irreversible.
ASYMMETRICAL COVERT WARS BEYOND MILITARY BATTLEFIELDS
In a volatile and trust deficit world, clandestine
subversion of institutions by hostile forces is a known form of covert warfare. This is perpetrated
relentlessly, with varying degrees of intensity, even during peace time. From regional and global hegemons to lumpen and criminalised states to a host of internal mercenary and parasitical
groups are involved in the same. While every act of lawlessness and governance
failure must not be interpreted as covert war, but poor social trust and
fragile criminal justice system provide the most fertile soil for subversive
warfare by external powers and mercenary forces. It becomes easier for
opaque global networks, with elaborate world-wide infrastructure, to capture lax
institutions of liberal states through pliable proxies. Very often cohesive
cartels come up in these institutions to take over institutions or rig chain of succession to leadership level roles, but these cartels shall struggle to survive without patronage of more powerful global forces. Hence, it is more important that key stakeholders
of a state take proactive measures to protect their institutions.
RECENT ACADEMIC RESERACHES AND INVESTIGATIONS
Many courageous and ethical researchers and investigative
journalists have often tried to offer deeper insight into this sphere. But our overall knowledge remains
limited. One of the recent works captioned "Violence, Coercion, and the
Politics of State Capture' (Federico Manfredi Firmian, Routledge, 2026) offers
comparative case studies on how elites allied with militias and organized crime
networks captured courts and governance in Madagascar, Sudan, Lebanon, Mexico,
and Colombia–Venezuela borderlands. Judicial institutions are manipulated to
shield illicit economies and repress accountability (Taylor & Francis).
Roxana Gutiérrez‑Romero (Oxford Academic, 2026) in the work
captioned "Killing for Control: How Drug Traffickers Capture the State and
Expand Their Criminal Economies" exposes how Mexican drug trafficking
organizations used bribery, assassinations, and intimidation of judges and
politicians to dominate resource‑rich regions. They apparently carried out over
500 political assassinations and 156 attacks on relatives of officials, in a
clear manifestation of direct cartel penetration into judicial and political
systems (Oxford Academic).
Hanna Samir Kassab & Jonathan D. Rosen (Springer, 2019)
in their work "Corruption, Institutions, and Fragile States" explore
how corruption and organized crime infiltrate fragile state institutions,
including courts, creating systemic impunity and weakening governance
(Springer).
"Embodiments and Frictions of Statehood in
Transnational Criminal Justice" (Eva Magdalena Stambøl & Randi
Solhjell, Theoretical Criminology, 2021) offers a large number of case studies
in Mali and Liberia show how fragile judicial systems, under international
“penal aid,” became arenas where global and local power asymmetries allowed
criminal groups to exploit weak courts (SAGE Journals).
City Bar & Vance Center Reports on Latin America
(2025–2026) documents reprisals, assassinations, and disciplinary retaliation
against judges in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, often linked to organized
crime and political interests. Judges were killed (e.g., Bolivia’s Víctor Hugo
Claure, Ecuador’s Lady Gissela Pachar Huanga) for rulings against cartels and
corrupt elites.
Dejusticia Report: “With Judges on the Chopping Block”
(2026) highlights Venezuela and El Salvador as prime examples of judicial
capture, where courts became instruments of authoritarian regimes and criminal
gangs, rubber‑stamping abuses and dismantling independence (Dejusticia)
Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF) & GI‑TOC Panel
(2026) warns that organized crime in Latin America infiltrates judicial
structures, customs agencies, and financial systems, securing impunity and
territorial control. Courts and prosecutors are weakened, while cartels exploit
prison systems to consolidate power (DPLF)
Cartel penetration in criminal justice system is
systemic and not driven by bribery alone. They often deploy assassinations,
intimidation, and manipulation of judicial appointments to ensure their grip
over criminal justice system. Fragile states with weak and inefficient
institutions, rampant corruption and amenable to external pressures are most
vulnerable. Courts are always the easy targets and so are upright and
professional security officers. Cartelisation and capture of Judiciary undermines
sovereignty where democracy and rule of law may survive more in form and less
in substance. Courts tend to serve cartels and authoritarian rulers, which
again in fragile states thrive more due to patronage by opaque global forces
rather than goodwill of the people.
Societal fracture, criminal violence and rampant corruption
provide fertile ground for institutional erosion. Mega cartels weaponize these
to ensure impunity and expand their illicit economies in collusion with corrupt
and pliable elements in politics, bureaucracy, corporates, media and
eventually criminal justice system. The form, degree and intensity
varies.
INDIAN CONTEXT
Credible gold standard citations are too far and few in the
Indian context. But recent media disclosures about Lawrence Bishnoi gang
operating a global crime network appears improbable without larger patronage
and support of clandestine cartels within Indian police. The
places of its operation in North America or Dubai further point to something
obvious. These places already had strong footprints of Pakistan backed
Khalistani and Islamist groups, whose nexus with rogue and malicious elements within Indian police, judicial and political establishments is well documented.
Vohra Commission report, commissioned after the 1993 Bombay
bomb blasts, chaired by N.N. Vohra (Home Secretary), had categorically stated
that D‑Company and other syndicates had deeply entrenched themselves in
police, judiciary, and politics, creating a parallel system of governance. The
report had warned that politicians, bureaucrats, and police officials were
protecting and profiting from criminal cartels, undermining sovereignty. Role of judiciary has not been openly mentioned but it is assessed, on the basis of several available inputs, that the entire circle of subversion just cannot be completed without a similar and substantial degree of subversion. The Vohra commission had recommended creation of a dedicated agency to monitor and dismantle these
networks. Nevertheless, such a bureaucratic solution was far too incapable of
redressing the rot.
Patronage of D‑Company network by Pakistani ISI is
well known. It is widely believed, on basis of credible researches, that this cartel's grip over narcotics trafficking,
extortion, contract killings, and money laundering was simply impossible
without strong nexus with powerful cartels within police, judicial and
political establishments of India. A recent report by Times Now (2026) mentioned
that 'Enforcement Directorate' had exposed D‑Company’s drug empire where both
incumbents of Indian police and hawala operators were colluders.
Earlier, US Treasury and UN Sanctions (2003 onwards) had designated Dawood
Ibrahim as a global terrorist, citing his role in financing terror and infiltrating
Indian institutions. This was done on the basis of credible evidence alone.
Khalistani Outfits like Babbar Khalsa International
(BKI) and Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) again involved in a wide variety of
organised crime including narco trafficking. Both the groups are known to be working under
direction of Pakistan’s ISI. Their nexus with cartels within Punjab Police has been spoken of at many platforms. The
legendary former DGP of Punjab Police Late K.P.S. Gill (1997) had
documented how Khalistani militants had thrived under police and political
patronage in Punjab.
These networks have definitely not died down as yet. There are several media reports that have highlighted drone incursions in Punjab from Pakistan, transporting both heroin and arms. These again hint at corruption within segments of Punjab police and organised funding of Khalistani cells. India Tribune (2026) has highlighted how ISI channeled funds to recruit rural youth of Punjab. The report exposed the larger narco‑terror nexus with politics. There are extensive media reports highlighting the penetration in Indian systems not only in Punjab but other states as well. Some of these I have mentioned in my paper on terrorism (An Indigenous Strategy on Terrorism - DocsLib). But the large size of the country and relative strength of institutions and resilience of Indian values have so far contained the level of subversion below a certain threshold level. But there is definitely a need for serious institutional evaluation of the situation and initiation of efficacious remedial measures.
In closely
integrated and interconnected world, irregular and asymmetric warfare are
integral components of zero-sum geopolitical chess by big powers. These wars extend way beyond military theatres.
Courts, policing systems, bureaucracies, media ecosystems, regulatory
institutions, and even political processes can become arenas of strategic
manipulation.
STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS
I have stated earlier in my write ups that in contemporary closely integrated and interconnected world, irregular and asymmetric warfare are integral components of geopolitics. Such wars extend way beyond military theatres. Courts, policing systems, bureaucracies, media ecosystems, regulatory institutions, and even political processes can become arenas of strategic manipulation.
Local cartels, often ignorant of larger picture, capture key institutions of their own states for their private gains. When institutions designed to protect society become instruments of selective power, democracy survives in form but loses its substance.
PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITIONING
The deepest consequence of institutional
capture is psychological and not merely legal or political alone. I have maintained, on basis of
scientific research, that it is possible to capture not only institutions but also permanently alter the psyche of substantial percentage of people in an entire generation.
External adversaries shall benefit if a society is trapped in a never-ending
emotive identity conflict and sense of helplessness among citizens. This will automatically destroy societal cohesion
and capacity of institutions to act impartially and fairly and morale of people to resist the damage.
In case of India, delayed justice, and even gross injustice, have become a predictable norm. a large percentage of ordinary citizens appear to have ceased expecting fairness from legal and judicial institutions. Such a scenario is certain to destroy popular confidence in institutions.
Integrity, altruism and human empathy have perennially been the bedrock of social trust. But now these are more often dismissed as
naïveté. Dishonesty and opportunism appear to have become rational and desirable attributes of individuals and silence or
collusion in dishonesty appears the highest hallmark of wisdom. In such a
society, fear is no more an occasional state of emotion among deviants and violators of law. Rather it has become the framework of governance that expects compliance
of citizens even against norms of rationality and law. Can such a society ever succeed in pursuit of comprehensive and sustained excellence in human endeavours?
Shall it ever be able to optimise its collective all-round strengths of its people?
Neuroscience provides a convincing
explanation. Through neuroplasticity, repeated exposure to intimidation,
arbitrariness, and helplessness rewires behavioural responses - when RNA
recodes DNA, instead the usual coding of RNA by DNA- that becomes part of genetic make-up over generations. These condition more and more individuals to increasingly favour conformity over courage and survival over
principle. Across generations, persistent environmental pressures may also
influence epigenetic patterns, reinforcing inherited tendencies towards
distrust, learned helplessness, and institutional disengagement or even
cowardice and opportunism.
The biggest strength of a civilisation is
not the wealth of some of its elite but the character of its masses. Such a phenomenon of learned behavior due to state oppression with judicial collusion attacks on the very fundamental strengths of our civilisation.
The ultimate battle,
therefore, is not for legal and technical rules and procedures alone. It is for enhancing the quality of institutions of state and society that are dependent upon character of citizens. The latter depends upon opportunities and ambience available for optmising the strengths and capacities of human mind. These alone can equip us with the civilisational confidence to negotiate with both internal constraints and external challenges.
Our legal-clerical approach to governance, amidst rigged institutions and poorly conditioned societal psyche - especially the epigenetic survivalism evolved over generations among a substantial section of population due to centuries of oppressive foreign occupation- have been gradually retarding our civilisational strengths. It were relatively higher
thresholds of integrity, altruism and societal trust among majority Hindu and Indic faith practitioners and liberal Muslims of India, that had helped democracy survive and thrive even amidst extreme poverty, after independence. Probably there is no other example of this kind. Nevertheless, subversion of institutions or failure of adequate evolution of democracy, especially severe dysfunctionality of criminal justice system, may be permanently eroding this strength of ours.
HOLLOW JUDICIARY: SILENT CAPTURE OF INSTITUTIONS
In democracies, courts are the ultimate custodians of
observance of rule of law. If such courts lose credibility, integrity and
efficacy, the entire governance-administrative edifice comes under serious
threat, seriously retarding all-round capacities of the concerned state.
In one of my earlier posts on this very blog, which was also published in a
magazine named Asian Affairs, in 2019 (Jitendra
Kumar Ojha on Democracy, Governance, Geopolitics, National Security &
Leadership : India's Crying Need for a Robust Criminal Justice System), I
had stated: " A deficient criminal justice system not only hinders
rule of law but also impedes internal security and social harmony, which are
critical for economic development and national security".
Hollow courts in democracies are probably the biggest collaborators and approvers of subversive war
against their own state and civilisation. This is especially when they lose
their capacity to uphold and defend rule of law. It is irrelevant if the cause us procedural constraints or personal epigenetic factors of certain incumbents. The net outcome shall be silent capture of critical institutions by
energised cartels seeking to enrich and empower themselves at the cost of an
entire nation and society.
Poor justice delivery system can destroy social peace and
tranquility at one level and seriously impact mental health of citizenry, by
raising anxiety levels and generating hopelessness. This directly impedes
optimal peace, security, stability and progress of the targeted state and its overall capacity to negotiate with challenges and tap opportunities.
Challenges concerning our judiciary is not an isolated one. There are multiple indicators that despite outward facade of democracy and sovereignty, we may still be a colony where capacities of state and society have deliberately been curtailed to restrict, if not choke, our optimal progress. Hence, I have been advocating, all on my own, a new science of statecraft captioned as Indocracy. It encompasses all dimension of governance, security and geopolitics and it is not driven by common sense or law or moral philosophy alone. Rather it is outcome of much deeper inter-disciplinary wisdom and deliberation that goes way beyond normal personal exposures and simple academic information.
India needs an urgent, if not immediate, reform in its entire criminal justice system to secure its societal spaces and guard its institutions from all shades of internal and external covert warfare. Our failure in this domain is the only explanation for our sustained under performance on all parameters of governance and security compared to our northern neighbour, who used to be a younger civilisational sibling of ours, but has practiced Kautilyan statecraft with far higher levels of integrity than anyone else.
Yet it is still not too late to chart out a new course of our own.
(To be concluded with last volume on Judiciary)
