The idea of rule of law has as its basis a common understanding among the members of a society that they will create certain limits for each to adhere to and violators will be answerable. They will be subjected to a pre-decided quantum of punishment. The cardinal principal for a functional society that goes by the rule of law is that everyone is equal before it.
The events that have unfolded in Pune in the last one week related to an incident in which an allegedly drunken teenager mowed down two motorcycle-borne young techies appear to be bizarre and have the potential to strike at the very basis of the rule of law. It started with the release of the minor immediately after the incident on the plea that he would be tried under the Juvenile Justice Act; then there was the kidnap of the family driver of the minor and an attempt to make him admit that he was at the wheel when the accident took place.
The latest in the series of irregularities is that the doctors in a government hospital there replaced the blood samples of the minor, collected to check if he was indeed drunk at the times of accident. The test results came in favour of the accused saying there was no trace of alcohol in the blood. It is to the credit of the police that they foiled the attempt, like they did with the others.
What must perplex society is the willingness of the doctors to give in to inducements and become part of a crime. It was incumbent upon them to stand by the law and ensure that justice is done; instead, they betrayed it. This will go down in history as an incident which brought infamy of the worst order to their noble profession.
