Yesterday, the 25th of April 2016, the worlds’ biggest democracy was faced with one of the most dramatic scenes in the history of its 69 years of Independence and in its 65 years as a Republic; an emotional Chief Justice of India imploring the Prime minister of the country and Chief ministers of states to understand the problems of the Judiciary and to protect the Judiciary. The flood of emotions that drove the CJI Justice Tirath Singh Thakur to tears only show the genuineness of the problems faced by the Judiciary in India. The pendency of cases in India has already attained a gargantuan figure. Though successive governments have discussed about it still the country is yet to see it in action. Justice T S Thakur questioned how campaigns like “Make in India” will be successful when investors are not sure of getting timely justice in India.
The judiciary in India in the current state with such huge number of pending cases is clearly not business friendly. As of 2015, there were more than 3 Crore cases pending across the country. Moreover the integrity of the country in the eyes of the other countries goes down when our justice system is not in place and speedy.
However leaving aside the business friendliness of the country the figures indicate the state of affairs of what the citizens have to undergo in their daily lives. The legal maxim, Justice delayed is Justice denied is never truer than at present in India. Delayed justice breeds hopelessness in the minds of its citizens and a country with high number of youth full of cynicism. In the hinterlands it surely encourages “Kangaroo Courts” and situations where citizens take law into their own hands. With an ailing judiciary, in its time taken for delivery of justice, instead of strengthening other law enforcing agencies like the police it in reality de-motivates the police personnel.
The vicious cycle continues which translates into corruption in every nook and corner in India. Corruption exists in every institution and at every level. There is always an easier and quicker method to resolve issues than take the legal route because law and the judiciary is not seen by citizens as a system to protect them but more to harass. The law enforcing agencies also lose respect in the eyes of the common people.
So when the Chief of the Judiciary, the body that interprets the Constitution of India, have to literally cry and beseech the Legislature to protect their Body and to understand its problem then the country surely is not going in the right direction. It is a moment that the citizens of the country are not very proud of but no doubt, it is indeed timely and a reminder to the government that all is not well and it is time to act.
