Justice delayed is justice denied

Justice delayed is justice denied


There are close to a billion Indians. Assuming that about 50 per cent is age compatible to litigate and file, or are respondents in, just one case each, there would be half a billion cases in our courts. To compound the clutter, reflect on the fact that cases are constantly being filed. It is par for the course that an average case takes up to 10 years to settle between court dates and other myriad impedimenta. So who’s afraid of the judicial process?

Not the civil-case litigant because it will be years before the verdict rolls around and then with appeals and moves to higher courts he can safely bank on another decade of indecision. The criminal is somewhat worse off, because he’s often arrested and remanded first and the questions begin only afterwards. But even for murderers and their ilk, once bail is obtained, they can look forward to years of freedom no matter which way the verdict eventually goes.

It was interesting to see the Government trying to look after its own peace of mind by seeking to impose penalties and non-refundable and steep deposits on public interest litigation. Because apart from the exercise of the vote, the common citizen has no grip at all on his netas and “administrators”. However, as a move to restrict “mischievous” litigation in general, the proposal has merit.

What can be done to preserve our fundamental right of being equal before the law and yet move towards speedier justice? We definitely need to decongest our courts. This can be done by steeply increasing the costs of litigation and simplifying the law itself. It might be worthwhile to expand the size of the judiciary and the size of the penal awards as well.

Many innovations can be taken from the American system which caters to an incredibly litigious population of only 220 million people. When an American threatens to sue someone it carries weight because the law guards individual liberty and the awards, if successful, can wipe out the loser. American lawyers are permitted to take a case on speculation, arranging to take a cut of the award money rather than legal fees, letting the poor litigate. Perhaps we also need to reintroduce juries. Juries introduce commonsense because they comprise of non-legal people. The only recourse to battle rising corruption is an efficient judicial system so that the righteous can stand their ground and the crooked make their moves at their own peril.

Today, the system is too slow for both sides and so most of the inequity takes place outside the portals of justice with little or no relationship between the two. Too many litigants are abusing the judicial process, taking advantage of its archaisms and legal cul-de-sacs to place things in limbo. A new judicial commission needs to sit down and prune the deadwood from the law and its administration. Too often the law is made but not enforced. There are layers of laws on top of outdated or colonial ones or even Mughal ones, which are no longer relevant. All this deadwood must go. If we could have simpler and clearer laws and rapid enforcement of them we could start to build the order that every decent individual craves. To bring about the changes calls for a glasnost that will shake the foundations of our judicial probity. But to not do so will make a mockery permanent. Justice may be purposely blind but there is no need to turn it into a cripple. What can be done? Should court dates be set by clerks or computers? Should unintimated absences of litigants, judge, registrar, witnesses etc. result in adjournment?

Two things are clear. The Indian judicial system and laws need to be modernised and the citizen of India deserves speedier justice. Because a lot seems to be happening to bring crooks to book of late perhaps this is the right time to get the system itself geared up to deliver.

(664 words)

By Gautam Mukerji

First published in THE PIONEER www.dailypioneer.com on February 14th, 1997 under the headline CONCERNS