By M L Satyan

Bengaluru, July 14, 2023: A family known to me fought a property-related case for almost 15 years. The family consisted of aged parents and three sons. The sons were married and well-settled. Yet, they had an eye on the family property of 20 acres of land.

The parents divided the land into four parts – each son was given 5 acres and the remaining 5 acres were taken by the parents. But the greedy sons wanted to grab their parent’s portion. They coined false accusations and they fought the case with the help of influential and well-paid lawyers. Recently the aged parents lost the case and have landed up in a home for the aged.

A few days ago, I received a WhatsApp video titled ‘Law is not Blind-Show the Money’ by Firstpost channel. I give the thought-provoking contents of the video: “Have you seen statues of Lady Justice? If you have, you cannot miss the blindfold. It is supposed to depict lack of bias. Justice is delivered based on facts and fairness and not outside factors. But only in theory it remains. The lady justice will open the blindfold sometimes when she hears cash registers ringing.

Recently there was an interesting development in the Supreme Court of India. The case was to hear the bail plea of Teesta Setalvad despite being a holiday. She was accused of fabricating evidence in 2002 riots case in Gujarat. The High Court in Gujarat rejected her bail plea. So, she had moved the Supreme Court and the judges convened twice – at 6:40 pm and at 9:15 pm. They granted her interim protection for seven days. Now the case itself is very polarising and you may have your own opinions on it.

What does it take to secure justice? What does it take to get the court’s attention? It helps if you are powerful. There is no ideological or political distinction here. If you are a politician, you get court’s attention. Your bail hearing gets fast-tracked. If you are a celebrity or related to a celebrity, you get a Fast Track. If you have a top lawyer, the same thing happens. Some big names in India charge anywhere between 1.5 million and 1.8 million rupees and their services are worth every penny. But surely that should affect the speed of justice – how early the court takes up your case.

Here are some staggering numbers: Around 77 percent prisoners remain under-trial in India, meaning they are in jail but the trial has not yet started. It means more than 417,165 prisoners await trial. Who do you think these prisoners are? They are not corrupt politicians or bureaucrats. They are not celebrities. They are not well-paid TV personalities either. They are ordinary citizens with no connections of power. Around 60 percent of under-trials are Dalits and Tribals. They do not have access to well-paid lawyers. Hence, their cases get delayed.

Another staggering number is the pending cases. Around 50 million cases are pending across Indian courts. In this judicial pile the ordinary citizens come last. They wait here sometimes decades for justice. But the VIPs do not. They will have expensive lawyers on call and those lawyers will have the court’s attention. It is an unfair system and the courts know it.

The Supreme Court of India has tried to remedy the under-trial and pendency issue. They have given a new order to the lower court – to prioritize bail over jail. But at the ground level, things are yet to change. The court can work on a holiday for an activist with a top lawyer. But will it do so for the whole lot of under-trials? We know the answer. This problem is not about one case or one ideology or one political party. It is a question of basic freedom and liberty.

India has a rich tradition of justice and fairness. Our courts led by the Supreme Court have upheld that tradition. Yet there are gaps to fill. A fat wallet cannot be an early guarantee of justice. Neither a due process can be expedited for the influential. The top court knows this already. But it is all about putting the wheels into motion.”

Taking the cue from the above video we need to understand the drawbacks in the judiciary. Despite the judiciary’s independence from the executive and legislative branches, the Indian judicial system has a number of issues. Such issues hold the courts back from efficiently functioning and handing over justice to citizens which is a fundamental right for them.

A famous quote even states how “justice delayed, is justice denied”, and such is the ordeal of the Indian Judiciary that one of the prime issues it faces is the delay in the provision of justice to the ordinary citizen. Some issues of the Judiciary are described below:

• The pendency of cases
• Corruption
• Lack of transparency (particularly in the appointment of judges)
• Under trials of the accused
• Lack of information and interaction among people and courts

In a Tamil movie there is a song which says, “all those have gone to jail are not criminals and all those who are outside are not Buddha and Gandhi.” Today money can convert a lie into truth and truth into a lie. As a consequence, innocent people are imprisoned and criminals roam around freely. A classic example is Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh against whom the Delhi Police has released a Chargesheet. It says that he is “liable to be prosecuted and punished for offences of sexual harassment, molestation and stalking”. Has the law succeeded in punishing him?

Running an efficient, modern judiciary necessitates successfully carrying out a range of administrative functions, including activities related to managing and maintaining the courts (such as case, facility, financial, and human resource management). To be clear, better administration is no more a panacea for judicial productivity than increasing the number of judges. Improvements to the adjudication process are also necessary. The law ministry, the human rights activists and all responsible citizens need to make a concerted effort to bring in the expected changes in the judiciary.