The Indian judicial system is one of the important pillars of democracy. It has its roots since ancient times when the judicial system worked according to the kings and emperors, british rulers and now working as a sovereign and independent body. The judicial system in India has a systematic hierarchy of courts – the Supreme Court being the highest judicial institution and the high courts and other lower courts in the territory of India. The judicial system works for the welfare and justice of people and protection of their rights and liberty under the rule of law. But a large population in India does not have access to the courts and are unaware about their rights and duties under the rule of law. Many people in India face problems in the matters of court and judiciary.
Justice is granted to a limited section of society due to monetary, cultural and geographical barriers. The litigation process in India is very costly and time consuming and is unaffordable for a large number of people in India. The poor section of the society often deals with a lot of problems and get trapped in the circle of court procedures. Few advocates and lawyers ask for high charges and work inefficiently. All these factors lead to monetary barriers for proper functioning of justice. Therefore, poor people and weaker sections of the society get no help and security of their fundamental rights.
People face other cultural issues. Common man is not aware about the basic laws and many are illiterate to understand the basic working and litigation in the court. There are less number of courts with poor infrastructure. The courts are over burdened with cases and are under staffed to have proper functioning and smooth procedures. People from villages travel to cities for justice and do not have access to any lower court in their town or village.
Many people do not prefer to go to the court for justice because of the poor working and costly litigation. An inefficient disciplinary mechanism exists in the courts which leads to delayed procedures and judgements. There is uncertainty and inconsistency in the judgements and there is no substantive judgement. Upto 22 million cases in India are pending and it gets delayed by years. There are less number of judges in accordance with the frequency of pending cases in India. Both civil and criminal cases take upto 6 months for trial and it can take upto 10 years or more for the judgement. Many criminal cases the accused suffers from mental trauma and is denied his liberty in pre trial detention and faces socio economic problems as usually the accused is the only earning member of the family.
Some of the criminal litigation advocates do not work efficiently and check on their clients at far away prisons at the date of hearing and present poor evidence which drag the cases for years. There exists red tapism and corruption in the interior working of the court. The rape cases in India take many years for the judgement and the victim suffers for years for justice. The Nirbhaya case took 8 years for judgement. The number of criminal cases, especially rape cases are pending for years and the victims fight for their justice for years.
Because of the loopholes in the Indian Judiciary, justice is delayed and the people involved in the fight for years for seeking justice. New provisions are required for the quick working of the judiciary. The rule of law should reach to the people of India irrespective of their societal or economic status. People should be made aware of their rights and liberty and basic working of the courts. School should include a subject for practical working of life including the working of courts, banks, police, finance etc. Various campaigns by NGOs should be based on understanding the procedure for litigation to help the weaker section of the society.
There should be an increase in the number of judges and other staff at the court. More police officers and investigating officers should be recruited for the smooth working of criminal cases and investigations. There should be fast working of courts, with the latest technology and digitalised working and technical experts should be employed for its maintenance. There should be better infrastructure and more number of courts in all parts of the country and a better system of hierarchy of courts. The laws and codes should be updated and new laws should be formed based on today’s scenario. More cases should be inclined to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) – arbitration, mediation and conciliation for less involvement of court and for quick dispute resolution.
The problems in the Indian judiciary should be solved for better justice, as the development of a nation is known by its system of judiciary.
References :
- https://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/indias-criminal-justice-system-an-example-of-justice-delayed-justice-denied-3475630.html
- https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2017/02/indian-judiciary-failure-and-solutions/
- https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2020/05/jaithlia-maheshwari-indian-judiciary-pace/#:~:text=There%20are%20numerous%20causes%20behind,had%2010.5%20per%20million%20people.
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