It is disheartening to read about the plight of riot hit families which surfaces in the news every now and then. The cover stories are heart wrenching realities of the modern era communal riots. But apart from being highly readable stories they serve little purpose to the society as well as to these victims. The sluggish pace of justice delivery system means the culprits are walking scot free even as the victimized families find it difficult to bear the loss of their breadwinners. This in turn motivates the perpetrators of these crimes to carry the same heinous crimes in the future as they are assured of impunity by their political masters. In this way, rather than giving a landmark judgement which severely punishes the guilty and becomes a precedent in any unfortunate riot case in the future, law is inadvertently providing shelter to the perpetrators.

-Sunny Gusain