Guiding Light: Duty And Justice

Duty and justice are two sides of a coin. When legitimate duties are discharged, there will be no dispute. When there is no dispute, there will be no room for injustice. Dispute arises due to wrong notion and also due to greed for amassing wealth through unfair means. Disputants for wrong notion do not agree with the views of each other. In such cases issues remain deadlocked taking them to the court of law. Greed triggers disputes. One of the litigants will be knowing that he is on wrong side. The matter again knocks the door of court for adjudication. It is aptly said “Justice delayed is justice denied”. It is also said “Justice hurried is justice buried”. Instances of hurried justice are seldom heard. Almost every case is delayed. Delay varies from case to case. Nothing is greater punishment than delayed delivery of justice. The time of verdict from the courts is the starting point of stoppage of injustice to the winner and starting point of punishment to the loser.

How much of justice the winner enjoys and how much of punishment the loser undergoes depends upon the remaining time of their life after the judgment is delivered. When a convict is sentenced, the period of his stay in jail can be deducted from the jail sentence he has to undergo. But when he is acquitted, an innocent person who is denied bail earlier suffers injustice.

Theodore Roosevelt, American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian and writer observed: “It is a wicked thing to be neutral between right and wrong.” It is true. Neutrality between right and wrong is the sign of passive support to the wrong side. Benjamin Franklin said, “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”

Being good is easy but being just is very difficult, according to Victor Hugo, poet, novelist and dramatist. If respect for the law is desired, then a law that can be respected has to be enacted. Observance and implementation of the laws are duty. When the law that cannot be respected is enacted, its observance would be very difficult. Judgment is delivered based on the existing laws. If laws are good, duties performed in accordance with the provisions of the laws would render justice to the needy.

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