This article aims to briefly understand the relationship between law and the personal values of an individual and how these interact
with each other. It also explores the fallacies of the law and how they affect the citizens living within a society. It concludes on the perspective of how the spirit of law is just as important as the letter of the law.

In a way laws are the collective values of a particular society and often define the norms for that society , But sometimes law tends to clash with the personal values of an individual. For instance, a judge presiding over the trial has to be neutral even if the crime is of heinous nature and not in sync with their worldviews because it is his/her duty to be unbiased and give a fair judgment. Similarly, a public prosecutor has to defend an accused even if the accused committed a crime that’s against their personal values because a free and fair trial is the only way which ensures that justice prevails and the person who is actually guilty is punished for it. Allowing personal biases to meddle with the law would be very disruptive for the justice system and make the process of obtaining justice even more difficult. Unfortunately, the justice system is incredibly unfair towards those who cannot afford even their basic necessities yet find themselves in trouble with the law because while law in theory swears to treat each and every individual equally regardless of the demographic they belong to, that’s not the case in reality as the poverty-stricken sections of the society get a harsher slap on the wrist as compared to the richer sections of the society. The recent Pune Porsche Case is an example of such cases. The accused who belonged to a powerful and
wealthy family and hence was part of a higher strata of society was allowed to walk away largely unscathed, had this case occurred at the
hands of a poor truck driver or at the hands of anyone else who belonged to a lower strata of society they would’ve been severely punished and detained as soon as the accident took place. This happens largely due to the class biases that occur in the Indian society due to colonial influences. As law students and future lawyers, advocates, judges, jurists, prosecutors, etc. One must learn how to keep aside our personal values and morals and find a balance between our values and the law to ensure that we’re doing justice to our duties and to our clients as well as focusing on the spirit of law just as one does with the letter of the law.

This blog is authored by Trisha Kathuria, who was the Top 40 scorer in the ADR quiz competition organized by Lets Learn Law.