The so called great English politician and also the former prime
minister William Edwart Gladstone (1809-1898) quoted "Justice delayed is justice
denied.". This phrase implies that if justice is not carried out right
away timely, then even if it is carried out later it is not really justice
because there was a period of time when there was a lack of justice.
I agree
that people are losing faith in judiciary. It is mainly because of long delays
at all points, the reluctance of all the judges to give the judgments and the
inevitable adjournments. That is why people are approaching the mafia which
believe in out summary justice.
But it
is not as easy to understand without clarification as to what actually is meant
by the delay in justice. In between seeking justice and deliverance of justice,
there are a lot of pre-requisites and formalities of rules and regulations and
prescribed procedures governing proceedings of the court time consuming but
unavoidable for the purpose.
Indian
judiciary is last hope for citizens of India. Unfortunately the judicial system
in India is based on the Evidences and facts, not conscience or morals, so it
should be easier, once having the facts at hand, all it needs is an argument
and hearing and quicker pronouncement of Justice. A judicial system that cares
only about evidences and facts shouldn't worry about taming the souls of the
plaintiff and the defendant with time rather give justice as quick as it can,
this delay/denial of justice leads to increasing "Out of Court
settlements" which are cheaper and quicker thereby leading to the loss of
trust in our Judicial System.
The
preamble to the Indian constitution, interalia, declares that: "We the
people of India having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign,
socialist, secular, Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizens -
Justice, social, economic and political. But six decades after Independence, we
have endless laws, but not enough justice. The founding fathers of our
constitution placed "Justice" at the highest pedestal and our
preamble to the constitution placed justice higher that the other features like
liberty, equality and fraternity. People use to go to the judiciary in quest of
justice.
Indian
judiciary is one of main pillars of democracy, it along with media is one to
which people look upto while administrative system and police is accused of
being highly corrupted. Indian politicians, bureaucrats and police are among
least trusted people of India, while judiciary is seen as least corrupted and
institute that does stand for people of India
As
Chief Justice Burger has noted: "A sense of confidence in the courts is
essential to maintain the fabric of ordered liberty for a free people and three
things could destroy that confidence and do incalculable damage to society:
that people come to believe that inefficiency and delay will drain even a just
judgment of its value; that people who have long been exploited in the smaller
transactions of daily life come to believe that courts cannot vindicate their
legal rights from fraud and over-reaching; that people come to believe the law
in the larger sensecannot fulfill its primary function to protect them and
their families in their homes, at their work, and on the public streets"
As you
know our Honorable Supreme Court has 62,794 cases pending as on January 1,
2015, the data available for the 24 high courts and lower courts up to the year
ending 2013 showed pendency of 44.5 lakh and a whopping 2.6 crore,
respectively. Of the over 44 lakh cases pending in the high courts, 34,32,493
were civil and 10,23,739 criminals in nature.
Primary
causes behind Law's Delays: The first and the biggest problem is about the
delay in the disposition of cases.
a) The hopelessly inadequate number of judges and also courts in the country is undoubtedly one of the major reasons for such delay.
b) If the inadequate number of judges is one reason behind delay in judicial process another reason is the incompetence and inefficiency of judges.
(c) The habit of taking adjournment by the lawyers is another reason behind the delay.
(d) Endless amendment of laws is another reason behind the delay.
(e) Absence of work culture in the courts is another reason behind the delayed.
(f) Inadequate quality of justice not only promotes peace in the society but also weaken internal security of the country.
a) The hopelessly inadequate number of judges and also courts in the country is undoubtedly one of the major reasons for such delay.
b) If the inadequate number of judges is one reason behind delay in judicial process another reason is the incompetence and inefficiency of judges.
(c) The habit of taking adjournment by the lawyers is another reason behind the delay.
(d) Endless amendment of laws is another reason behind the delay.
(e) Absence of work culture in the courts is another reason behind the delayed.
(f) Inadequate quality of justice not only promotes peace in the society but also weaken internal security of the country.
Some of
the principal causes are:
(i) Litigation explosion;
(ii) Accumulation of first appeal;
(iii) Inadequacy of staff attached to the High Court i.e. vacancy Crisis in Indian Judiciary
(iv) Inordinate concentration of work in the hands of some members of the Bar'
(v) Lack of punctuality among judges;
(vi) Granting of unnecessary adjournments;
(vii) Indiscriminate closure of Courts;
(viii) Indiscriminate resort to writ jurisdiction;
(ix) Inadequacy of classification and granting of cases;
(x) Inordinate delay in the supply of certified copies of judgments and orders etc
(i) Litigation explosion;
(ii) Accumulation of first appeal;
(iii) Inadequacy of staff attached to the High Court i.e. vacancy Crisis in Indian Judiciary
(iv) Inordinate concentration of work in the hands of some members of the Bar'
(v) Lack of punctuality among judges;
(vi) Granting of unnecessary adjournments;
(vii) Indiscriminate closure of Courts;
(viii) Indiscriminate resort to writ jurisdiction;
(ix) Inadequacy of classification and granting of cases;
(x) Inordinate delay in the supply of certified copies of judgments and orders etc
Remedies
To Overcome Delay (Suggestions):-
There
is need to establish more courts and to increase number of judges according to
population. While the population of the country and the number of cases has
increased manifold, the judgment services appears to be understaffed. Same is
the position of the courts, where number of courts are less in comparison to
the need. As it is estimated that India has, only about II Judges per million
population, which is among the lowest ratios in the world. Obviously, there is
an urgent need to increase the number of judges specially at the local level
for giving access to the ordinary people.
"Little
drops of
Water, little grains of sand
Make the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land,
Little deeds of kindness,
Little words of love
Help to make earth happy
Like the heaven above."
Water, little grains of sand
Make the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land,
Little deeds of kindness,
Little words of love
Help to make earth happy
Like the heaven above."
This
poem of Julia A F Cabney in "Little Things" was quoted by the Supreme
Court judges Doraiswamy Raju and Arijit Pasayat while delivering their
judgement on April 12 in the infamous Best Bakery riot case in Gujarat
Conclusion
We can
conclude from the above discussion that figures on the chronic backlog of court
cases "last six decades"are a further indictment of the country's
beleaguered continues to erode trust in India's legal system. The multi-pronged
reforms are a long-term project and judges will first have to be brought on
board with any significant changes to their profession. Fast-track courts,
dedicated to cases of sexual crimes, were opened across the country to address
this sentencing and trust deficit. But speedy justice presents its own
challenges.
Certainly
"justice delayed is justice denied" but the opposite, that
"swift justice is injustice," is also true. Though fast track courts
have whittled away India's backlog, judges and observers have raised concerns
about the quality of justice being administered.