News Highlight
Fali S. Nariman, the senior advocate to the Supreme Court, opinioned the Supreme Court need some course corrections to ensure accountability within the judiciary.
Key Takeaway
- The Supreme Court sits in final judgment over decisions not only of the high courts in the states but also over a hundred tribunals, central and state, functioning throughout India.
- And the law declared by the Supreme Court, its pronouncements on the constitutional validity of enacted law, including constitutional amendments, is binding on all other courts and authorities in the country (Article 141).
- There is virtually no legislative or executive activity area beyond the highest court’s scrutiny.
Challenges in the judicial system
- Huge pendency of cases
- More than 65000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court of India and over 49 lakh in High courts.
- Appointment of judges
- The appointment of judges in the higher judiciary (collegium system) has been a cause of concern.
- It raises serious doubts about the meritocracy and neutrality of judges.
- Judicial Activism
- Judicial activism means the judiciary is venturing into areas not typically considered to be within its jurisdiction.
- These are measures related to policy and fall in the domain of executive and legislative.
- Costly affair
- Litigation is a costly affair, and in several instances, ordinary people are forced to forgo their rights and claims as they cannot afford legal proceedings.
- For example, It is difficult for South Indians to go to Supreme Court and make litigation.
- Lack of infrastructure
- The judiciary needs the infrastructure to deal with the huge caseload properly. Unfortunately, the judicial complexes are overcrowded, and several Courts have a shortage of digital infrastructure.
- Several British-era laws
- Several British-era laws; have become obsolete and need to be amended, modified, or repealed.
- For example, Official Secrets Act.
- The ratio of judges to people
- There is about 21 judges in India for 1 million people.
- The ratio of judges to people is meagre, and the Law Commission highlighted the need to improve this ratio in the 245th Report.
- Religious litigations
- Due to their sensitivity, courts take more time to investigate and validate the evidence.
- For example, Ayodhya Ram Mandir Case.
- Violation of the fundamental right
- The Right to a Fair and Speedy trial is guaranteed as a fundamental right under Article 21.
- Lack of infrastructure and judges violate a fundamental right.
- Increases the cost of managing prisons
- More than 65% are undertrial prisoners. Therefore, a decrease in undertrial prisoners results in a reduction in expenditure.
Government initiatives
- Virtual court system
- The regular court proceedings in our Indian courts in such unprecedented times are either being adjourned or carried out virtually via video-conferencing.
- E-Courts portal:
- It is a one-stop solution for all stakeholders like litigants, advocates, government agencies, police, and ordinary citizens.
- National Judicial Data Grid
- The statistics of cases pending at the national, state, district and individual court levels are now accessible to the general public, researchers, academicians and society at large.
- e-Sewa Kendra
- The e-Sewa Kendra is a one-stop centre for accessing all the facilities provided under the eCourts Project.
- Zero pendency court project
- It is an initiative of the Delhi High court.
- It is to provide information on the judicial time required to dispose of a case together with gathering stage-wise details in each case.
Way forward
- Shortage of judges
- There is an urgent need to address the shortage of judges and ensure that the cases are disposed of promptly.
- The regional bench of the supreme court
- Setting up regional benches of the Supreme Court would help to improve accessibility.
- The rule of law
- The judiciary in India ensures that there is the rule of law and that the rights of the citizens are not violated.
- Independence
- The judiciary as an institution needs to preserve its independence and to do this,it must strive to maintain the public’s confidence in the established courts.
- Introduction of All India Judicial Service
- It will bring professionalisation and expertise to the judicial system.
- Use of technology
- The use of blockchain technology will help in analysing and keeping records safe and faster.
- Promotion of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
- Governments need to solve their disputes through ADR to reduce the burden on the judiciary.
Content Source: Indian Express