Our State has three organs through which it functions, the first organ is
Legislature, second one is Executive and third organ is Judiciary. The Indian
democracy being the largest in the world, is upheld by its Judicial System.
While the source of judiciary's power is the Constitution of India, its strength
comes from the faith of Indian citizens. Lack of faith would lead to chaotic
situation where the people would hesitate to approach the Court of Justice.
The prevalence of justice is highly dependant upon the Judiciary, which is why
its efficiency is the integral part to the success of social order in India. As
long as the citizens of India believe in the mechanism and integrity of courts,
Judiciary remains the interpreter of Laws and determines the social justice in
the society. Unfortunately, there are issues that restrict the reach of law to
all the citizens of India.
One of the most prominent concern, our society is facing, is the sizable backlog
of cases pending in the courts. There has been accumulation of cases in the
Supreme Court, 25 High Courts and subordinate courts. At present, India has a
sanctioned strength of 25,628 judges and 4.7 crore cases are pending in the
courts of different levels of judiciary across the country. This issue can
primarily be attributed to a shortage of judges. The number of judges appointed
all over India is far less than the capacity of the judges approved.
Need for Judicial reform in India:
The requirement for judicial reform is highlighted from the fact that the
limited supply of judges to cater the vast demand for the attention of the
courts by accumulating the cases has led to rise in the figurative price of
justice. People who approach courts for justice not only incur the litigation
cost, but also have to spend a large amount of time in wait for getting justice.
As William E. Glad Stone said,"
Justice delayed is justice denied."
So, there is needed efficiency in our judicial system. Because, there is a
possibility that an increase in the efficiency of judicial system could curb
crime rates. The proximity of penalty brought by the courts for committing crime
would have the psychological deterring effect on the criminals.
Reasons:
What is important is the independence of judiciary in our country, however, past
situations coming under the scrutiny have proved that even judiciary may be
prone to corruption. Judges who can be influenced by politics may create
prejudice in the courts, despite the principles of natural justice which demands
that there should be no bias in the trial.
Corruption within the courts, make the function and fairness of judiciary
questionable. Judicial overreach is another issue that calls for reform.
Judicial overreach is when judiciary starts interfering the functions of other
organs that is Legislature and Executive. According to the theory of
self-restraint or mutual restraint, every organ has to work in their own field
and no organ should interfere in the working of one another.
A past example of
overreach that has been criticized is when operators with 2-G licenses must stop
their services. The line between judiciary and legislature must not be blurred.
They should work in their own sphere and should not influence one another. Our
judiciary already have too much workload because of oending cases from many
years in the courts. So, they should work to become more efficient in their own
sphere because it has the responsibility of protecting the rights of the people.
So, these were the reasons that indicate the judicial reform in India.
Possible Solutions:
- Measures should be introduced to promote the transparency in proceedings
to avoid bias.
- There should be a mandatory pre litigation process to avoid frivolous
litigations, to conserve court's time.
- More judges must be appointed in India.
In 2016, the then Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur broke down in front of our
Hon'ble Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi. And said in choking voice, "You cannot
shift the entire burden on judiciary." He demanded the appointment of more
judges and establishment of new courts in India because Indian Judiciary is
overburdened. Competency is a key, the judges appointed should be competent to
understand the lawpoint and to provide justice to the people.
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