Death by 'encounter': The rise of 'penal populism'

Support for harsh penal policies is often the result of two interconnected phenomena. One, viewing criminals as those outside of society and two, a result of disillusionment with procedural justice

Even if some claim that the shooting of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf by assailants while under police custody is the last nail in the coffin of the judicial process, the public at the receiving end of Atiq Ahmed's criminality and terror does not appear to be in mourning over the ascendance of "jungle-raj" in Uttar Pradesh. If anything, they will probably agree with the pronouncement of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister and former state president, Swatantra Dev Singh, "Paap aur punya ka hisab isi janam mein hota hai (The account of sin and virtue is settled in this