Clean Hands

Macbeth and Banquo ware the two Generals of King Duncan. They see three witches on a bleak Scottish moorland. The witches prophecy that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor becomes true shortly as King Duncan declares him as such due to his success in the battlefield. The King also plans to make a brief visit to Macbeth's castle in Inverness. Having come to know of these developments, Lady Macbeth decides that she will do everything in her command to ensure that Macbeth will become the King, by whatever means that is necessary. 

Macbeth comes to the castle and King arrives shortly thereafter. Macbeth couple decide to kill King Duncan in order to achieve their goal, and wait for everyone to fall asleep. When everyone is fast asleep, Lady Macbeth gives drugged wine to the guards so that Macbeth can kill the King. King Duncan is killed. King's sons flee fearing for their life and are blamed for the King's death. 

Macbeth becomes King but feels insecure. In order to save his throne, he unleashes a reign of terror and many persons are killed, including Macduff's family, since Macduff (another General) is loyal to King Duncan. Even after all these, Macbeth is not comfortable and fears attack from enemies who have fled to England. He seeks further advice from the witches who inform that he is safe until Birnam Wood marches to fight against him. He is also told that anyone born of a woman cannot challenge him in war. 

Malcom, one of Banquo's sons who had fled to England moves in to attack Macbeth with help from Macduff. The army carries branches of the trees in Birnam Wood as camouflage. Lady Macduff is now overcome by guilt for having left a trail of blood due to serial killings in the pursuit of her husband's ambition. She sleepwalks and tells her secrets to a doctor. As Macbeth prepares for the final war with Malcom's army, aided by Macduff, he learns of the suicide of his wife, Lady Macbeth.

During the war Macbeth is challenged by Macduff. Macbeth learns that Macduff was born out of a Caesarean birth and knows his end. Macduff brings Macbeth's head to Malcom and Malcom proceeds to be crowned as the King. 

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This is the summary of the play "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare, considered as one of the greatest plays of all times and one of his famous tragedies.

Just before her suicide Lady Macbeth wonders and utters the famous words "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand". The full statement in Act V, Scene 1 is as under:

"Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand, Oh, oh, oh!"

Her hands were indeed clean as she had never touched any blood directly. But the burden of the many killings, of which she was privy, was sufficient to drive her to death by suicide. After a particular stage even a hardened person cannot withstand the rigours of the wicked deeds. They  may escape others view, but yet torments the one who is responsible for them.

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That was about blood stained hands. But we know about clean hands being washed again and again and still being in doubt as to whether they are really clean. Remember our tryst with Coronavirus days? The dreadful period when one washed hands as well things that were often clean, and yet felt it was not sufficient!

In jurisprudence, clean hands are indeed an important consideration. The maxim is "He who comes into equity should come with clean hands". What is a maxim? A maxim is a short pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct. Such maxims are universally accepted and do not require any proof. A pithy statement is one that is forceful and meaningful in expression. The maxim of "he who comes into equity should come with clean hands" means once who seeks equity must himself be just and honest. Someone whose hands are tainted with wrong doing cannot seek justice due to his own shortcomings. 

When we talk of equity, we should also differentiate between "equality" and "equity". Equality means providing the same to all. Equity means recognising that all people do not start at the same place and require some adjustments to create a level playing field. The following image probably explains equality and equity quite well:

As can be seen above, in the first part of the image, all the three persons are given two slabs each to stand upon to see something, may be a game or performance. This puts a taller person at an advantageous position but does not help the short one. In the image on the right side, no slabs are provided for the first person, two slabs are given to the second person and four slabs are given to the third person. This helps all the three to see the visual of the game or performance at the same level. This symbolises equity. We may recall how our fathers used to life us on their shoulders so that we could also see what is happening in front of us, which we would have never been able to see otherwise. It was indeed some real equity!

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All students of Organic chemistry know that "Alcohol" is a family of compounds. Ethyl Alcohol or Ethanol (C2H5OH) is the usual ingredient in most of the liquors. In states or provinces where prohibition is in force, some people make "illicit liquor", popularly known as Hooch, and sell it clandestinely. This often contains Methyl Alcohol or Methanol (C3H5OH) or wood spirit, which is very dangerous when consumed by human beings. In addition to this, the hooch is prepared in most unhygienic condition and often using decaying material. 

We often hear of tragedies wherein several people of a village or a group die due to consumption of such illicit liquor. These instances happen quite regularly. The victims of such tragedies are mostly from the poorer sections of the society. There is a craving for giving compensation to the families of the victims. State governments give compensation to the suffering families and often generously with a eye on vote banks.  

Recently there was such a case in Kallakuruchi in Tamil Nadu. The state government gave a compensation of Rupees Ten Lakhs to the families of the persons who died by consuming illicit liquor.

One of the public spirited persons filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) before the High Court of Tamil Nadu stating that the very act of consuming illicit liquor is illegal and providing compensation for such victims is unwarranted. It violates the principles of equity and is indeed a burden on honest tax payers. Such compensation tends to encourage consumption of illicit liquor, the PIL said. The PIL also said that the victims are not freedom fighters or social activists, but ones who consumed illicit liquor knowing well the dangers it posed. 

In a judgement delivered on Friday (5th July, 2024), a two judge bench of High Court in Chennai applied the maxim of "Clean hands" and wondered how the government was encouraging such actions by giving a high compensation of Ten Lakh Rupees. They also suggested that the state government may reconsider its decision.

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What the government will actually do is not known. But this case has brought into focus, the issue of governments giving liberal compensations to all and sundry without applying the "Clean Hands" principle.