Indian Laws follows Buddhist Philosophy – Change for the Better
Lipika Lakhani
The author of this blog is Law Student, School of Law Jagran Lakecity University, Bhopal
“The
essence of man is really his paradoxical nature, the fact that he is half
animal and half symbolic.” – Ernest Becker
The
above statement highlights the nature of man who carries twin identities in his
mindset one of which is ideal behaviour which is appreciated by the society and
the other one is pure evil. Now, it depends upon that man which of his nature
he wants to depict in the society, through his actions. The laws are made to
punish the person for his evil or wrongful acts and to protect the interest of
the victims.
Indian
legal system provides the various theories of punishment and one of which is
Reformative Theory of Jurisprudence which is given with the intention to change
a person into a better human being. This particular theory can be related with
the philosophies of Gautama Buddha, as the common element is to reform the convicted
person through the methods of individualization. Even the purpose of
imprisonment is not only to isolate the criminal from the society but also to
bring positive change in the mental attitude of criminal. In the case of Narotam
Singh v. State of Punjab[1], the
Supreme Court observed that – “Reformative approach to punishment should be the
object of criminal law, in order to promote rehabilitation without offending
community conscience and to secure social justice.” Therefore, Section 360 of
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 empowers the court to order the release of
convicted person on probation of good conduct or after admonition. Some of the
modern reformative techniques of punishment for the treatment of offenders are
as follows – Probation, Parole, Pardon, Admonition, and Indeterminate Sentence.
While
tracing the foundation of reformative theory, it leads back to the period of
Buddhism. At that time, Angulimala who had killed 999 people and was told that
if he killed 1000 people then he would be the most prolific killer. His name is
derived from two words i.e. ‘Anguli’ means Finger and ‘Mala’ means Necklace, as
he used to wear the necklace of many fingers of those he had slain after
committing decoit. And when he was killing his own mother, he came across the
Buddha and decided to kill the Buddha instead. He ran towards Gautama Buddha,
who was walking at normal speed. Despite running so fast, Angulimala was unable
to catch up with the Buddha, and then he called after the Buddha, demanding
that he stop. Then, the Buddha explained that he had already stopped and told
Angulimala to do the same. After hearing this statement Angulimala got
confused, and asked the reasoning behind such statement. The Buddha explained
that – By renouncing the killing of all living things he had stopped, unlike
Angulimala who was obsessed with killing of innocent people and thus would
never be able to stop. This incident and teachings of the Buddha changed
Angulimala completely, and he became a monk.
As
monks used to collect alms from people, he did the same but the people were
still afraid of him and due to that, no one gave him any food or penny. The
people demanded their King to kill Angulimala, and for that purpose the King
came to the Buddha. The Buddha asked the King – “Would you kill him if he were
dressed as a monk? If he has renounced violence and has become a virtuous man?”
The King answered – No. then the Buddha revealed that the man sitting next to
him is Angulimala and explained the King to see Angulimala in the present moment.[2]
This
story coveys the message that even the most violent and cruel person can also
be changed for the better and also that the positive karma can neutralise the
negative i.e., the bad karma.[3]
It
means that if the guilty person has realised his offence and is ready to
compensate for that then those positive karmas of compensation will contribute
in reduction of his bad deeds. This will bring positivity and eventually
transform the person. On the contrary, it does not mean to leave the offender
without any punishment. It depends upon the facts and circumstances of each and
every case. Laws are considered as a process which breaks the cycle of offences
by revealing the true nature of dharma. The teachings of Buddhism bring ease in
the legal system, which is the need of the hour as it is beneficial not only to
the perpetrators of violence but to the victims also. And it also contributes
to the restoration of social equilibrium.
[1]Narotam Singh v. State of Punjab
AIR 1978 SC 1542 (India).
[2]Morten Bergsmo and Emiliano J.
Buis, Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law: Correlating
Thinkers, Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher, Brussels, 30th Nov.
2018, http://www.legal-tools.org/doc/e0142c/.
[3]Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera, Dictionary
of Pali Proper Names, Pali Text Society, London, 1960
Comments
Post a Comment