If we learn one thing from the Mumbai bomb blasts case it should be that the wheels of justice must never be allowed to move so slowly again. The Indian judiciary has to recognise that the criminal justice system needs urgent, crucial reform and it must begin today.

The Chief Justice of India should take the initiative in bringing about the changes and he could use the Mumbai bomb blasts case as a template. He only needs to ask why the case took 13 years. At every step he will find flaws that need rectification.

Justice finally began to be done last week but is far from being done because there will inevitably be appeals and more endless procrastination, thanks to ancient procedures and hoary technology. It will now take Justice Pramod Kode several weeks to pronounce judgment on the 123 people charged with perpetrating a terrorist act that killed nearly 200 people on March 12, 1993, and destroyed the lives of those they left behind.

If we had an effective, modern justice system, the men who committed this evil act should have been punished 10 years ago. Instead, several of the main perpetrators continue to live happily ever after in Karachi and Dubai, and others like Yakub Memon dare to mock the justice system in court without any fear of contempt.

When found guilty of conspiracy Yakub reportedly shouted these words at the judge: “Voh (Tiger Memon) sahi bolta tha, koi insaaf nahin milega. Tum log hame terrorist banake chhodoge. (He was right, there is no justice here, you people will make us into terrorists.)”

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