Law vs Justice! Why Courts Sometimes Decide “Wrong”

 

Law vs Justice

After understanding what law is, a very disturbing question appears:
If courts exist to deliver justice… why do they sometimes give decisions that feel unjust?

You may have heard statements like:

“Everyone knows he is guilty but court released him.”
“Victim was right but case got dismissed.”
“Technical grounds pe case khatam ho gaya.”

Does the court not understand fairness? No, the court works on certainty.

Court Does Not Ask: What Happened?
It Asks: What Can Be Proved?
This is the most important shift from common thinking to legal thinking.

For society, truth matters... In court, proof matters.. If truth cannot be proved according to the rules → legally it does not exist.

Example 1: Criminal Law (Benefit of Doubt)
Suppose a murder happens, everyone in the area believes a person committed it, police also suspects him, apparantly he looks guilty, but evidence is weak:

• No weapon recovered
• No eyewitness
• Only suspicion

In such an event the court releases him and public reacts as “Justice failed!”, while in legal reality Justice has worked. As criminal law follows one golden principle:
“It is better that 10 guilty persons escape than 1 innocent suffers.” this idea was presented by William Blackstone and is known as Blackstone’s Ratio. This is why prosecution must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

So court did not say he is innocent but it says, Guilt not proved. 
That is the law protecting society from wrongful punishment.

Example 2 — Limitation Law (Time Bar)
A man lends money to a friend and the Friend never returns it, after 10 years he files a case but the Court dismisses it. Unfair? Yes. Illegal? No.
Because law says:
Claims must be filed within a specific time.
Why? Without limitation:

• Cases never end
• Evidences disappear
• People cannot live peacefully

So law sacrifices one person’s fairness to protect everyone’s certainty.

Example 3 — Technical Acquittal
Suppose police illegally searches a house and finds drugs.
Morally: Criminal caught
Legally: Evidence obtained unlawfully
Court may exclude that evidence and release accused and public will be shocked that “Criminal ko bacha liya!”
But the real message is: Law is not just society’s weapon against crime; it is society’s shield against uncontrolled power.
If illegal searches are allowed today for criminals, tomorrow these will be used against innocent citizens. So sometimes courts free a guilty person to keep the system just.

Precedent Idea (How Judges Think)
Courts do not decide cases emotionally. They consider the fact that if they allow this today, what rule will exist tomorrow? as each decision becomes a precedent, a future rule.
So judges decide not only for one person but for thousands who will come later.
In simple, Law thinks long term.

The Core Difference
Justice asks: what is morally right? while Law asks: what rule must be applied so society remains stable? So, sometimes both match, sometimes they collide... and when they collide, court chooses law because:
Without rules → no predictability
Without predictability → no rights
Without rights → no justice

The Lawyer’s Mindset
A lawyer does not ask: “who deserves to win?” but he thinks of who can legally win?, this may feel cold…but this coldness protects everyone equally.

Final Thought
Law does not guarantee perfect justice in every case but as per the doctrine of "Rule of Law", it guarantees something more important:
No one will be judged by moods, pressure, sympathy, or anger but only by rules.
And over time, society improves those rules. So courts do not always produce fairness, they produce order and order is what allows justice to exist.
Mr A. V. Dicey stated "Government power must be exercised according to established laws, not according to arbitrary will."
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Welcome back to Legal Bethak
Where we move slowly…

From feelings → to reasoning
From stories → to structure
From Classroom → to Courtroom

If you haven't read our first article What is Law?, start from there, it explains the foundation of this discussion.
https://legal-lala.blogspot.com/2026/02/what-is-law-meaning-purpose-role-in.html