Thus not infrequently we hear questions being raised as to what actually is the law. We hear the phrase being bandied, whenever someone is arrested, in a way that cannot help but convey to the public that it is being uttered more out of convenience than conviction, used more as a cliché rather than a profound expression of honest intent. Law is not anybody's handmaiden to be applied in a manner that suits the power that be.

We fully support the assertion that law is supreme, but there is the inherent danger in its selective use since that will eventually and inevitably lead to justice not only being hampered but also resulting in the impairment of the system. Law is as much to punish the guilty as it is to protect the innocent, and ensuring everybody's equal right under it entails application of the due process of the system. We have seen the arrests of many since last January but except a few cases which have ended in conviction and a few charge-sheets being given, most are still waiting for specific charges to be brought against them. This hardly speaks well for the system.

And on this matter it may be relevant to repeat our suggestion that all the charges and allegations against the two leaders of the AL and BNP be brought to the fore and the cases proceeded with in accordance with the law of the land without necessarily needing them to be incarcerated. In this context a lot of questions have been raised about the comment of the law advisor that arrest is a necessary action once the charge-sheet is framed. Not only we but others too aver that is clearly not what is stipulated by law.

That the idea of law being supreme is an irrefutable reality but its application need not be the cause of infraction of human liberty. In that case, as sages have contended, every law becomes an evil.