Justice through the legal system

A conversation with Azim Khan

"In case of violations of fundamental rights, one can file a petition by merely sending a post card to the court. High Courts and the Supreme Court can accept it as a writ petition and pass directives to the concerned authorities." Azim Khan, a human rights teacher and researcher explained during the course of an interview.

Azim Khan holds a Masters in Human Rights from University of London as Ford Foundation International Fellow and an LL.M from Aligarh Muslim University. Presently he is working for an accredited American higher education institution as Academic Director. Besides teaching human rights law he has worked as facilitator of the Leadership for Social Justice (LSJ) Program in Washington DC. Khan has published numerous reports and articles on human rights and provided human rights training and advice on a pro bono basis on numerous occasions to organizations such as UN OHCHR, UNCERD, and NGOs. Recently, he was awarded a Scholar of Peace fellowship by Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for his research on ways of peace building in post 2002 riots in Gujarat. I met him last month to find out how Muslims and other marginalized communities of India can use the existing legal system to seek justice.



It is believed that judicial system is expensive and time-consuming. Azim Khan counters this perception ‘’ there are many examples where justice was served by merely sending a telegram or letter to the courts. Like in Bhagalpur blindness case where a journalist working in Bihar complained to the Supreme Court about patients losing eye-sights due to the poor medical care. Immediately, the Supreme Court directed the central government to provide medical care to the patients. Within 24 hours of the receipt of the telegram, health department officials got busy in getting the patients transferred to AIIMS in Delhi’’.

The obvious question then is if the justice system is so accessible why a vast population is still denied justice? Khan says ‘’ the problem is more of information than accessibility. People are not aware of how the process of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) works. And secondly, fewer still have faith that they will get the justice.’’

People of the country should know about their rights and have an understanding of the types of institutions they can approach when their rights are violated. Rule of law is the basis of democracy and one shouldn’t hesitate in approaching institutions responsible for maintaining rule of law in the country.

‘’Suppose a person who thinks that his fundamental rights have been violated, in that case he or anyone on his behalf can approach the Supreme Court under Article 32 or high courts under Article 226 of the Constitution’’. Azim Khan suggests ‘’ first approach the high court of that state, in case that does not work, Supreme Court can be approached’’.

Not just this, there are other institutions that can be approached depending on the nature of violation. In cases of minority rights violation, National Commission of Minorities (NCM) can also be approached. Khan agrees ‘’ NCM is a ‘teeth-less body’ since its recommendations are not binding on the government but still it doesn’t take its importance away since its recommendations are published and widely publicized too. The government can ignore it on its own peril. If nothing else at least approaching NCM will document the case’’.


The documentation is the key when it comes to the struggle for justice since it is done at several levels and documentation is an important part of the process. Organizing a press conference of local media to publicize the violation will also surely help.

But when we talk about documentation, in many cases commissions of inquiries set up after anti-Muslim violence have very well documented the origins of communal riots, identified the culprits and recommended actions. Still, no actions have been taken which has resulted in eroding the trust of Muslims on the system. ‘’ A probable backlash from the majority community may be a reason enough for inaction on the part of the government especially when it comes to following up on the riots reports. He calls it “a negation of justice” but still believes that something can be done.

Every case of human rights abuse needs to be reported to the relevant authorities. Any system consists of individuals who may have certain biases against particular community but ultimately they have to follow the rules and regulations. Therefore, it is important to have proper documentation and understanding of how the system works.

Khan lays equal importance to human rights awareness and political mobilization. ‘’If people can be organized to punish political parties that have failed in delivering justice by not voting for them, then they will sit up and take notice.’’

I probed him further to find out if there is a legal way of pressuring the administration into stopping communal violence at the first place. ‘’ The predictable beginning of a communal violence may be a demand to take a religious procession from Muslim area or even a minor scuffle between members of the two communities for just no reason. In case of processions, the date and place of the origin of the apprehended violence is known beforehand, still one asks why the administration seems helpless in stopping it.’’

Azim Khan insists on Muslims building relationship with the local administration but at the same time approach the courts for directions to the administration. In charged environment sometimes it is difficult for the officials to take action that seems to go against the majority community therefore a court decision helps them take those necessary actions for maintaining peace. The responsibility for those actions shifts to the courts rather than the local administration and therefore strengthens their position and makes it easier for them to maintain peace. They can argue that they are merely following court’s directives and not pandering to the Muslims or offending Hindus. He gives the example of one of the most sensitive and communally charged incident of Indian history as in the case of Babri Masjid where the government of India as well as the state machinery was directed not to allow the ‘shilanayas’ at sanctum sanctorum.

But for all this to happen, Muslims need to organize themselves and form a platform where legal issues can be taken up. Volunteers and community leaders be trained in documentation and provided guidance. Very importantly, Mr. Khan highlighted that it should be taken as a struggle for justice and not a struggle against the majority community. Fundamentally, struggle for justice means to fight injustice, in any form, any kind, faced by any community.

Azim Khan can be reached at azimsherwani@gmail.com.

Fundamental Rights in India : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_Rights_in_India