Atiq, Ansari, Naroda

Total denial of justice, as in the cases of Naroda Gam, the Jaipur bombings and gangsters like Atiq Ahmed, is why faith in the system has fallen so low. It's what fuels vigilante culture

Two judicial orders in old cases of mass murder in two neighbouring states have resulted in the acquittal of the accused.

In the first, the Rajasthan High Court set aside on March 29 this year the conviction and severe sentencing of four Muslims in the Jaipur serial bombings case of May 2008. In the second, earlier this week, a trial court in Gujarat acquitted all 67 Hindus who were accused in the Naroda Gam killings during the Gujarat riots of 2002.

For the sake of this argument, let’s presume that the judges in both cases are right, and that all the accused