- It is widely debated, dissected, and disseminated how different levels of Indian courts are inundated with millions of cases waiting to be adjudicated. As extensively reported in newspapers, more than 5 crore cases are pending in different courts across the country. The Supreme Court itself has more than 60 thousand cases waiting for adjudication. Yes, the courts across the country, including the higher judiciary, are also facing a judges’ vacancies crunch severely impeding the conclusion of cases. Efforts from the Union Government and the collegium of the Supreme Court to fill those existing vacancies have yielded limited results. Of course, the nation also witnessing not-so-positive vibes between the two constitutional arms of late on the matter.
PC: Sushil Kumar Verma
- The Union Law Minister has made no bones about the government’s seemingly not-so-happy disposition with the collegium system. We are aware of how the National Judicial Appointments Commission was summarily disposed of by the Supreme Court. Of late, constitutional heads like the Vice President and the Lok Sabha speaker too are not holding back while mentioning the pitfalls associated with the collegium system in vogue. In other words, they are exhorting the higher judiciary to reconsider introducing the NJAC to get rid of perceived adhocism and prevalent opaqueness surrounding the same. The moot point to ponder over here is will the Supreme Court senior judges consider relooking into the NJAC yet again. Let’s delve deep into the matter to understand how it might pan out.
- As common citizens of the country, we are more concerned about the amount of time being taken to dispose of the cases that are mounting by the day. It is worth looking into how the cases are being handled presently. Needless to mention, one of the reasons for the cases not getting disposed of in a reasonable time is the number of adjournments any particular litigation undergoes over a period of time. You would have noticed how Indian cinema has time and again portrayed the anguish of common citizens knocking on the doors of the judiciary for justice but invariably gets turned away by adjournments on one or the other pretext. Several famous film personalities have portrayed the angst of the common citizens showing how tardy our judicial delivery system works. Sadly, it hasn’t changed yet.
PC: The Times Of India
- No wonder, the people of India dread visiting any courts simply because the case gets dragged on and on for years. Did someone mention justice delayed is justice denied? Absolutely, but who cares if the wheels of justice keep rotating without delivering on time? Another stumbling block faced by the courts is the admission of cases, even if it is trivial, inconsequential, and lacking heft or traction to influence the general population in a big way. If the judiciary makes conscious efforts to not admit such cases, many such cases getting piled up will be reduced. Last but not least, the appeals being heard may not merit the immediate attention of judicial officials. And hence should be dismissed rather than heard out which only adds to the burgeoning backlog. If these three issues are looked into and addressed holistically, the huge backlog of cases will come down drastically.
