Painful punishment

The verdict of the 26-year-old Bhopal gas tragedy is finally out. And what is the punishment? Two years in jail and that too is bailable, along with an apologetic compensation for the negligence in one of the biggest manmade disasters in a century. And after all that, the high and mighty still move scotfree. This has become almost of every big and small verdict in this country where the victim suffers and the convict flees. Be it Jessica murder case or Ruchika, the law took its course only after a trial by the media. One still remembers a hard hitting headline in a newspaper saying ‘No one killed Jessica’. The media hit hard on the lower court’s verdict and the high court had to take a suo moto cognizance on the matter. The accused, who were acquitted had to face another trial and were thereafter sentenced with much severe punishment. But this was a high profile case in the national capital. But how many like Jessica get justice in ordinary circumstances? Well, the verdict in the Bhopal gas tragedy has made it clear that being poor in this country is a curse. People said the era of kings was brutal when they used to watch duels (a game where two people fight and one dies in the end) for their entertainment but I don’t think it can be more brutal than this where 20,000 lives have been killed with Rs 5 lakh compensation and the perpetrators get away with a bailable a two-year jail term.