Punishment predicament

A strange malady afflicts this muddled republic when it comes to punishing criminals. Unable to convict criminals and give them the punishment they deserve, successive governments have been enhancing punishments in the hope that it would deter criminals, oblivious of the fact that it is not the severity of the punishment that matters, but its certainty.

The latest gem in this regard is the enhancement of punishment for electricity theft and tampering of meters, etc. While the existing punishment is deterrence enough if applied in its entirety, the government in its infinite wisdom has thought it fit to enhance it. Pray, how many among the millions of ‘kunda’ users have been punished in the past – leave alone given the maximum sentence? So why keep enhancing punishments when you are not even able to give the maximum punishment according to the existing law?

Farid Nawaz