“Court acquits man of rape charges after 30 years”, ‘Spontaneous act’: All 32 acquitted 28 years later”, “ After 23 years in jail, I am free but what you see now is a living corpse, says Nisar”, “An Indian space scientist accused of spying finds closure after 24 years” “19 years after ₹ 4 Lakh Bank fraud man gets 5 years in jail”. These are newspaper headlines we often come across. Where is the canon of justice in these cases?. These are the only tip of the iceberg.
There are approximately four Crores cases pending before the Supreme Court, High Courts, and subordinate Courts in India. As per the Economic Survey report, 2018-19 prepared by the Economic Division of Dept of Economic Affairs, Govt of India, the average age of cases waiting for final judgment is inordinately high at 7.9 years. The statistics on pending cases in different Courts substantiate the point that there is an inordinate delay in the legal process and delivery of justice. It is shocking to see the figures that more than six lakh cases are pending in different Courts for more than 20 years. Overall 42% of the pending cases are more than three years.
"Justice delayed is justice denied" is a legal maxim and the foundation of legal jurisprudence in India. The meaning of the maxim is that that if legal relief to an appellant is available, but is not forthcoming in a reasonable time, it is effectively the same as having no remedy at all. Indeed, a case cannot be disposed of in a mechanical fashion like a post office would despatch a parcel. Reasonable opportunity for hearings have to be provided, evidence has to take place, cross-examination has to be conducted and finally, the judge has to pass an order and write the judgment. Whereas in most cases the principles of natural justice are being exploited by the parties in the case for their convenience delaying the process of justice.
The causes of delayed justice.
The causes for delay are numerous - Shortage of judges, Increase in the awareness of rights by common man loopholes in the law itself, inefficient police investigation methods, redundant and voluminous paperwork, lack of infrastructure, etc
Benjamin Franklin founding fathers of the United States a political thinker said "it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer. Indian legal system is mainly based on this principle. In one of the recent judgments, the Hon’ble High Court of Madras observed “1000 culprits can escape, but, one innocent person should not be punished. The observation of the High Court affirms the edifice of Indian jurisprudence. The strict following of this philosophy increases the dangers of offenders escaping from the punishment. The Delhi High Court in one of its guarded judgments observed that the trial court should not only make sure that no innocent person is punished but also see that the guilty do not escape.
Vacancies of judges, a blame game
As per the report published by the Ministry of Law justice, as of 01/4/2021, there are five vacancies of judges in Supreme Courts against sanctioned strength 34 remain unfilled. In respect of High Courts, the sanctioned strength of judges is 1080. Among these 419 vacancies yet to be filled up. In lower courts, as many as 4928 posts of judges are lying vacant.
The judges to Supreme Court are appointed based on the list recommended by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in consultation with a collegium of four senior-most puisne judges of the Supreme Court.
The appointment of judges to the High Courts is initiated by the Chief justice of respective High Courts. As per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Law and justice, the process of appointment of judges should start before six months of their retirement. Even though there is a time-bound schedule for timely appointment of judges the billion-dollar question is why still there is a delay in appointment?. It is estimated that over 5000 vacancies of judges in lower courts remain unfilled.
There is a blame game going on between the SC, HC, and the Indian Govt. As per the latest reports, Union Govt is accusing the Supreme Court and High Courts of flagrantly breaching the memorandum of Procedure [MOP] which mandates initiation of the process of appointment of judges six months before a post falls vacant. MOP is a written understanding between the judiciary and the executive on the appointment of judges. As per the reports from the Dept of justice as of 1st April 2021, out of 411 vacancies of judges, the HC collegium has not made the recommendation for 214 posts. On contrary, a bench of CJI S A Bobde and Justices S K Kaul and Surya Kant had asked Attorney General KK Venugopal to explain why the Govt was sitting over 45 names recommended by HC Collegium for appointment of HC Judges for period s ranging from six to fourteen months and not sending them to SC Collegium for scrutiny. The Law ministry retorts stating that the oldest vacancy dates back to October 014 in Orissa HC where the HC Collegium is yet to make a recommendation.
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Geddonu
sota, sotonu satta
The winner lost, the loser died, is the meaning of the Kannada proverb which is very apt to the legal system in India. Due to the considerable delay in Court judgments, the one who wins in the battle, cannot be called a winner, he is a lost contestant and one who has lost the case is almost a dead entity. The parties approach the court for justice and relief. The prolonged process of justice is resulting in more burden than relief. The time spent on the cases, the expenditure involved in the Advocate fee, and other expenses will no way benefit the litigants.
What is the alternative?
The litigation before the Court of Law should be the last resort for anyone seeking relief. There are other options available for the resolution of disputes. Lok Adalat under the National Legal Services Authority [NLSA] of India is one such institute that promotes an inclusive legal system to ensure fair and meaningful justice to the marginalized and disadvantaged sector. Lok Adalat is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms for resolutions of disputes pending in the court of law or at the pre-litigation stage for amicable settlement. Lok Adalats have been given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.
There are many lacunae in the present judicial system which is being misused by the parties for their convenience which requires to be plugged. A proper time frame for the disposal of a case has to be fixed. Assuming that an outer limit of three years is fixed, we can assess how many judges we need to dispose of existing cases. T.S Thakur Former Chief Justice of India once stated that Indian Courts need 70,000 judges as against 25000 existing judges to clear the pending cases. But the agony is that existing vacancies themselves are not filled due to tussle between Executive and judiciary.
India is Technologically advancing in all spheres of life. From the era of the pull-push train, we are now marching towards bullet trains. But our legal system repose confidence in the pull-push system, on the other hand, who are legatees? and who are paupers?
Author: Talekana Krishnadas Rai