justice delayed is justice denied

‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ – a much quoted line the world over. As I look at the variety of criminal cases involving high profile people, I see that they tend to move quickly and gain positive results, mostly in the favour of the defendant. Recently, the powerful banker Mr Dominique Struass Kahn was involved in allegations that led to his public demise. Only a few weeks back, it looked like an open and shut case, but since then a steadily falling house of cards has been unravelling and the alleged victim in this case has been weakened, perhaps in some small part by the sheer force of the powerful who she spoke out against. Nobody is bothered or sheds a tear when an ordinary person comes under the scanner and is convicted, falsely or not. But when powerful politicians or other influential people come under the scanner, rules are bent and a way out is found to safeguard their interests.
I have seen the justice systems of India and the USA over more than twenty years. I can say from my experiences that the blindfold of justice is transparent, seeing some and choosing not to see others. In my personal case, in the USA during extradition proceedings, the special prosecutor was caught red-handed behind death threats being issued to the presiding judge despite having made out that actually I was behind it. Luckily she was caught but got away by pleading not guilty on account of a multiple personality claim. I have seen the rich and the mighty being given a greater sense of the benefit of the doubt, rules and laws being amended overnight to give relief as fast as it can be. As a Sikh and being under the thumb of the law for too many years now, I have seen justice being circumvented and denied to ordinary people like us and many others. The prison is the underbelly of any system and it reflects the segmentation of a society and a nation. Mostly people from low incomes and the deprived side of life end up there. Why this is so is a big question which has been