Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Types of Justice

Jayalalithaa's imprisonment has activated many discussions on what justice is about. Has she not done enough good to the public to merit condonation of corruption relating to early nineties? Are n't there other politicians who have been even more corrupt and yet not facing any punishment now?

Both are logical and ethical questions. The first question draws our attention to concepts of 'gross' and 'net' justice. Netting of good deeds from bad deeds is not a law of nature. Consequences of both good and bad actions need to be enjoyed and suffered separately. Nature believes in and ensures "Gross Settlement" though not on Real Time basis. RTGS is not in vogue here.

The second question addresses 'absolute' and 'relative' justice. We are able to experience justice in individual cases but are unable to make a meaningful, satisfying comparison of 'rewards' and 'punishments' faced by one vis-a-vis another person for similar turpitude. This is because the consequences may be spread over different time periods for different persons. Nature is unerring in punishing the errant.

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