WHEN JUSTICE FALTERS, GENERATIONS SUFFER; CIVILISATIONS CRUMBLE

JUSTICE: THE SOUL OF A CIVILISATION: 

Man’s journey from primeval barbarism to civility has been driven by the quest for a just and fair world. This is what that has infused power and energy among small communities enabling them transform into great civilisations. Justice has not only been the focal point of security from arbitrariness of power or perversity of those in position of authority. It has been the soul of every extra ordinary state, society and civilisation. A society that practiced higher quality and principles of justice in its context, always succeeded in optimising collective potentials, capacities and output of its people, helping them build better worlds. But when justice falters, even the greatest among nations and civilisations sink into an orgy of vulgar power grab.

               In every context and every era, vision for a better society, that at times caused societal upheavals and violent changes, was driven by the dream for a fair and just world. Across civilizations, principles and practices of justice were never perfect, if looked from contemporary sensibilities of our respective cultures. Human sensibilities varied in different contexts and so did the larger priorities in each context. These have continued to evolve throughout history, yet the centrality of justice was never incidental. Philosophical texts and literature, may not have mirrored realities in society but these always reflected enlightened yearnings sentiments in each context and era.

ANCIENT PHILOSOPHIES: ACROSS CIVILISATIONS:

Ancient Indian sages envisioned a just society as one driven by Dharma – the eternal cosmic rhythm that obliged rulers and ruled to adhere to their respective roles. Texts attributed to Brihaspati,  Parāśara, Śukrācārya Manu, Yājñavalkya, Narada, Vishnu Smriti and eventually Kautilyan Arthashastra extended justice into codes of law, governance, and societal ethics—each insisting that fairness, including protection of the weak and vulnerable and restraint on authority of sovereign was the axis of legitimacy of rulers. The Chinese concept of ‘Mandate of the Heaven’ or Confucius’ Analects, Mencius’ defense of the people, and Han Feizi’s Legalism all converged on the principle that rulers were obliged to rule only in accordance with the highest principles of personal ethic to pursue the larger principles of justice for all.

In West Asia and Iran, the Code of Hammurabi (18th c. BCE) carved fairness into stone; Zoroaster’s Asha proclaimed truth and justice as cosmic order; later Islamic jurists like Al‑Farabi and Ibn Khaldun envisioned justice as the foundation of virtuous polity and social cohesion. In the Greco‑Roman world, Thales and the Milesians shifted thought from myth to rational order, laying the groundwork for justice as natural law. Plato imagined justice as harmony of soul and state, Aristotle distinguished distributive and corrective fairness, while the Stoics universalized justice as living in accordance with nature. Rome codified this into jus naturale, eternal and binding across peoples. Later philosophers—Aquinas, Locke, Rousseau, and Rawls—extended the dream: justice as divine order, social contract, and fairness as equity.

Similarly, Russkaya Pravda of Kievan Rus to Japan’s Confucian‑Buddhist codes and Indonesia’s adat and Pancasila, underlined justice as the axis of legitimacy of authority. Each affirmed that the fabric that held together a nation was not force or fear but the integrity and quality of justice as observed in society and enforced by institutions. Higher the principles of fairness that these rules and laws manifested and the degree of uniformity with which these were administered, greater was the harmony and cohesion of a society.

DEMOCRACY: PROMISE OF HIGHER QUALITY OF JUSTICE: 

Dawn of modern representative democracy, liberation of United States, French revolution, rationalist humanist ideals of the so-called enlightenment philosophies, women’s rights, abolition of slavery, universal adult franchise, large-scale de-colonisation, emergence of independent India, driven by the larger Gandhian principles of truth and non-violence, Universal Declaration of Human rights (1948), and advancements toward modern welfare states were all progresses in quest of a more just world. Yet in absence of eternal conscientiousness and sagacity of global leaders, entire world appears far more vulnerable to drift from established principles of justice at altar of self-seeking human frailties.

WHEN SOCIETIES LOSE CONSCIENCE, STATES DECAY AND CIVILISATIONS SLIDE BACK:

            Civilisations often slide back and states decay, when societies lose their conscience and courts become moot spectators or active collaborators in murder of justice. An integrated and interdependent world has been huge opportunity to transform plight of mankind. Yet it is larger poverty of global leadership and vision that has seriously eroded Justice, fairness and trust from the global order. Domestically, most democracies are struggling to protect efficacy of their institutions. In absence of serious innovation to restore institutional resilience, some of the most established democracies run the genuine risk of terminal decay and degeneration.

INDIA: 

In India, democracy appears to have descended into a bitter squabble for power between major political formations. Life, liberty, security and dignity of ordinary citizens are relevant only to the extent that these are kickable in larger arena of political football where major parties are vying for capturing levers of state power, more for their own private agenda than building the nation. The process of dismantling key institutions of state may have gained momentum in recent years but it was kicked more than five decades back. Unfortunately, both civil society and intelligentsia have demonstrated enormous poverty of purpose and resolve to resist the same. This situation has turned precarious largely due judiciary’s abdication of its responsibilities to uphold and protect rule of law. It shall not be unfair to state that despite flashes of rare integrity and wisdom among a microscopic minority of judges, entire institution of judiciary appears  

Ironically, there is virtually no discourse within intellectual and strategic space of India on extricating our democracy from this quagmire. While a robust judiciary that prevents, pre-empts and deters breach of rule of law or social and national cohesion is indispensable for optimal progress of India. An ascendant and assertive India, manifesting its essentially humanist civilisational values, is likely to enhance the quality of strategic equilibrium in the global power balance. This requires a genuine leadership to build a social system that adhered to the highest principes of justice and an efficacious legal regime to protect the same. Eternal principles of fairness and equity are well known in every society. None embodies it better than Indian constitution and Indian laws. But the day, Indian courts start administering the rules and laws uniformly and transparently, without any fear or favour, the world shall be far better. Few judges may have to gamble with their lives; but patriotism, courage, integrity and humanism need not be monopoly of soldiers in battlefield alone. All stakeholders of society, especially members of higher must embody the same to defend morale and conscience of society. They must remember:

 
Justice is heartbeat of a society and Judiciary its custodian; When justice falters, generations suffer; civilisations crumble.

 

[This was supposed to be concluding volume. But I have been compelled to extend it. The next volume on Indian Judiciary shall identify key challenges and explore potential solutions.]