VALUE OF A PERSON'S LIFE

 A person's life starts with the day he’s born and ends at the age of 70-80. In India one is eligible for certain rights even before they are born, u are given certain fundamental rights from the day of pregnancy and even during death like the right to dignity under article 21. Such rights followed by Indians make the Indian judiciary a beautiful and elegant system.

Even after such an effective judicial system, it sometimes fails us. From the case of Nirbhaya which shook the entire country to the A D M Jabalpur case which proved that the judiciary can still stand up to its people’s expectations.

But still, I feel the courts find it hard to make rational decisions when it comes to the value of a person. Compensation is a way to pay for the damages or injury but when it comes to the life of a person, how can u measure its value? How can a court decide the cost of a person who got grievously injured and lost his/her life? Is it moral to compensate for death with money? Can money really satisfy the loss of a family?

Let’s go with 2 different perspectives, according to an economist compensation can be an easy and effective way. It save time and money of the court and the compensation paid can be used by the family for its future necessaries. And the money saved can be used by the economy to increase safety in the country, to imply more safety rules, which can save another person’s life. High compensation is a feasible option.  

 Let’s take an example ,if someone loses his life in a car accident and the truck driver who caused the accident was in the wrong lane, according to economists a high compensation is a great option, money paid can be utilized in all sorts of way and satisfy the needs of the family. But when it come to the moral view what about the integrity of the person who died, he was a human after all who lived with dignity and emotions in the society, he cant be just valued in money like valuing objects.

When we take a legal view, justice comes in the picture. Like justice to the person who died in the above example by putting the taxi driver in jail. But again the question arises is what if that dead person was the only income source for the family? Even the family will suffer because of the loss. And speedy justice is never an option in India when it comes to small accidental cases like this.

One can think that both jail time and compensation can be imposed on the wrongdoer but let me tell u a crime is never a crime when it doesn’t involve mens rea. The intention of the criminal is taken into consideration but in cases like accidents, the intention is never involved.

These questions still linger in my mind. Cases like this question the both morality and justice system of the court. To answer these questions we need a more dynamic view because, in the end, it’s about our people and their lives.