A famous proverb which should be applied to the Judiciary system of our country India, is ‘Procrastination is the thief of Time.’ Justice is conveniently procrastinated by the entire judiciary system of India which is comprised of qualified Lawyers and Judges. Victims and innocent people who are convicted of criminal charges are on the brink of an emotional breakdown and without being hanged by the Jurisdiction, have died from within. Their hopes have been quashed. Many of them put an end to their life before the Judge’s final decision can gift them a new lease of life.
Nowadays, I mentally prepare myself for all the negativity which emanates from unbelievably horrendous yet true stories which get published in Newspapers. However, I am determined to read every major sensational news although they send a chill down my spine, because I firmly believe that Newspapers are eye-openers for human beings. Additionally, I do not want to be unaware of what is happening in the social circuit, political circuit and economical circuit of our global electrifying network of people across the world.
I am astonished to see that on every single day, the newspaper is inundated with news of crimes occurring all over India and of course in the rest of the world. The volcano of crimes which erupts in our country India spreads like wild fire which tarnishes the image of our country and engulfs the happiness and peace of our innocent people. This volcano of crimes propels our country into the category of ‘Countries with the highest Crime statistics.’
The Harsh Reality which results in unfavourable circumstances
The victims who were subjected to atrocious crimes, endure suffering due to the crime or offence committed against them. Apart from the trauma of their image getting tarnished within their community and social circle, they face the harsh reality that justice for them will be delayed. Yes, they do not get justice immediately. There are innumerable causes of this harsh reality. There is a dearth of judges in India, especially in the High courts and Civil courts. It is the Judge who analyses the entire case of offence, studies every aspect of the case, observes carefully each and every evidence put in front of him while analysing the statements of the eyewitnesses…..and so on…. Hence we should not hesitate in saying that Justice lies in the hands of the Judge. Ideally, there should be at least 100 judges per 10000 million people in India, only then can the judiciary system expedite court cases at a faster pace.
A case pending in either one of the courts, only adds to the anxiety of the victim as well as the victim’s loved ones, apart from increasing their anxiety whether the result of the case will be in their favour. In India, there are different categories of courts. The Supreme Court, the High courts, District courts, Tribunals… and so on….The District court is of two types: a) Civil court which looks into Civil cases and b) Criminal court which looks into Criminal cases. A civil case is the quarrel between two citizens or parties, in which one citizen or party sues the other.
A few days ago, my eyebrows knitted in a frown and I smacked my palm against my forehead when I got to know from a newspaper that there are around Seven crore court cases pending in India! Seven crore Indian families are desperately waiting for Justice.
India has been labelled as a ‘Corrupt nation.’ Is India really a corrupt nation? The answer is a frustrating ‘YES.’ The Lawmakers of our country India, themselves are seasoned practitioners of Corruption. Some Lawyers collect bribes and try to emphasize in the court, that it is the victim who should be convicted and that the offender should be acquitted of criminal charges. There is no Law and Order in the states of Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh…. And so on….. However, I strongly feel that Law and Order is weak in other parts of India, as well.
This is why Seven Crore court cases are pending
We are citizens of the country in which Lord Krishna ensured complete justice for the Pandavas, Lord Ram ensured that Justice is done to Goddess Sita who was abducted by Raavan. Malharrao Holkar-the Subedhaar of Malwa and his daughter-in-law Ahilyabai Holkar ensured justice to their subjects within a short period of time . It is disheartening to see today’s India in the category of corrupt nations, reporting an extremely high number of crimes when compared to many other countries in the world.
The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal in India. The Chief Justice of India sits in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court receives appeals of the final judgement made in High courts. India boasts of 25 High courts, yet there are seven crore pending court cases. The High Court is the highest judicial authority in a particular state. High courts take appeals for the final judgement made in District courts.
The Supreme Court comprises of 7 judges. There are numerous vacancies for lawyers and a lot more vacancies for Judges in High courts. The existing High Court judges avail of too many leaves frequently, thus adjourning the court and issuing date of the next court hearing. The time taken by all kinds of courts to dispose off the pending cases, unfortunately, needs to be measured in terms of the number of years. I feel that it is high time that our Supreme court should take at least 30% of the pending cases from High courts, fight these cases and should issue the final verdict within a short period of time.
The number of cases in the year 2020 were very less since the COVID-19 pandemic had engulfed the entire world, however, the judges and lawyers would not attend the court due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic and the disposal of pending court cases could not happen.
In High courts, most of the cases have been pending for nearly 8 years. In Subordinate courts, each case has been pending for nearly 6 years. Tribunals, Fast track courts and Family courts also have too many vacancies for judges as well as lawyers. There are too many cases pending in these courts as well. Youngsters should be encouraged to take up Law as a profession although it takes an ample amount of time for a person to establish himself/herself as a lawyer in demand. Not many Law professionals can meet the selection criteria for becoming a Judge in any of the courts.
Consequences of the large number of pending cases in various courts
If the Judiciary system of India is crippled, where would the citizens of India go to seek Justice? Will they have faith in our Judiciary system? Will their hopes for Justice remain alive? We do not die when we stop breathing in Oxygen, we die when our hopes die and when we stop seeing the silver lining in every dark cloud. The Judiciary system in every country should be a beacon of Hope for the citizens of that country. The United States of America is one such country which has a robust judiciary system which does not procrastinate Justice. The Judiciary system should be capable of bringing a radiant smile on disappointed faces which did not deserve to be convicted.
I see a ray of Hope amalgamated with Positivity when I had read in the newspapers a couple of months ago that the Modi Government had drafted three bills which would replace archaic laws made by the British when it ruled India. The 3 revolutionary bills are Bhartiya Nyaay Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bhartiya Sakshya bill, which would metamorphose the Indian Judiciary landscape. The Indian Penal Code which was the main law on criminal offences has been eradicated and Bhartiya Nyaay Sanhita has been implemented in the place of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill was implemented after eradicating Code of Criminal Procedure and the Bhartiya Sakshya Bill replaced the Indian Evident Act 1872 respectively.
Are the above-mentioned 3 bills passed in 2023 by the Lok Sabha, better?
The Indian Penal Code was drafted by the British officers who invaded India, to gain control over India and punish those Indians who did not follow the rules and laws of the British in the pre-Independence era. As per my understanding based on what I have read about these 3 new bills, the Bhartiya Nyaay Sanhita bill expects the first time accused or the first time convicted person to do Community service, as punishment for his offence for which this convicted person would not be paid. According to me this is a good idea of transforming the character of an offender, however, if the convicted person or the accused has committed a very serious offence, then, in my opinion, a severe punishment along with lifetime imprisonment should be meted out to him. Terrorism has been added as an offence in the Bhartiya Nyaay Sanhita bill and this offence was not mentioned in the Indian Penal Code. Cyber crime has been added as an offence which did not exist in the pre-Independence British era.
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita bill has set timelines for all court procedures, which may have been missing from the Code of Criminal Procedure. This bill has stated that the court should give a verdict on a particular case within 30 days of the first court hearing. This paints a clear picture of the future robust judiciary system in India. First Information Reports which are abbreviated as FIR’s can be electronically registered, which was not possible in the pre-Independence British era. The Code of Criminal Procedure contained insensitive terms which were humiliating to the victim or offender who suffered. For example, the terms ‘Eccentric person’ or ‘person of unsound mind’ have been replaced by ‘person with intellectual disability’ or ‘ person with mental illness’.
A new section has been added in Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita bill, which gives a more clear meaning of the term ‘Bail’. The Bhartiya Nagarik Sanhita bill has made it possible to implement Forensic Science to identify the criminal. It has made an easy provision for taking Fingerprints, conducting DNA test and collecting voice samples. The Code of Criminal Procedure never used Forensic science to find out the true culprit.
As per my understanding, the Bhartiya Sakshya bill has made it possible to include the term ‘electronic records’ within the term ‘Document’ which clearly means that electronic records are now an important part of Evidence which is crucial in deciding about who is the actual offender. The word ‘Advocate’ has replaced the terms ‘Barrister’ as well as ‘Attorney’.
These 3 revolutionary bills have paved the way for a foolproof and developed Judiciary system in India which will ensure unbiased judgement and faster disposal of court cases. A strong judiciary system would automatically reduce the rate of crimes per day, will mete out severe punishment to criminals by adhering to the newly added sections as well as modified sections. India would be perceived as the epitome of Justice. Such a Judiciary system would revive the dead hopes of Indian citizens about getting Justice and would restore their faith in the Judiciary system.
I pray to the Almighty that Justice should prevail each time an FIR is registered against the offender. A robust and responsible Judiciary system would make Justice prevail and would propel India into the category of ‘Progressive nations’.