Indian Judiciary, acclaimed for its integrity and competence, has long upheld the tenets of the Constitution by safeguarding the fundamental rights of the citizens. Be it giving legal relief to the aggrieved, or settling long standing disputes between the states; be it complementing the legislature through much-needed judicial activism, to promoting the spirit of unfaltering justice; the Apex Court, the High Courts and the District Courts, have long been a lynchpin in the Indian democratic edifice.
There is no doubt at all in the fact that the Justices & Judges have been one of the most erudite and scholarly people in the country, and generally speaking, I do admire them more than most of the political executives. Also, the Indian Judiciary is one such (constitutional) institution in the country alongside the CAG that I have utmost respect for.
Besides, the Judiciary has also been a valuable jewel in the rich tapestry of this country. From getting the jobs done which the governments constantly (at times, deliberately) fail, to preserving the rights of free speech, freedom of expression, and life & personal liberty, the institution has long ruled the roost keeping the notorious elements in order.
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But, it's not as hunky dory as it seems. Would that, at least one organ of the democracy, i.e. the Judiciary had served as a paragon of rectitude and probity (when the other two- the Legislature and the Executive are already in shady waters), the country would have been in a much better place. Considering the debilitating state of the Indian ‘justicekeepers’, it has become extremely important for the top legal luminaries, the Law Commission, and the policymakers in the country to revive the depreciating faith of the countrymen in Judiciary, before the public and media trials cause further damage.
Getting allegedly caught with undocumented bundles of cash, spewing hate speech (at least what most people considered) in public gatherings, and normalising exploitation of women through preposterous comments, some eminent HC judges have been under the scanner these days, and rightly so. When the guardians of law and justice will themselves start becoming a threat to it, the overall development trajectory of the country is bound to nosedive. Though the institution currently led by the hon’ble Chief Justice of India is definitely in good hands, its overall image has tarnished due to a string of scandals.
A country where luxury aficionados and intoxicated delinquents ravage the life and families of innocents with their rash driving, and living monsters give a thousand physical, mental and emotional scars to girls & women; the need for a robust Judiciary has today become more imperative than ever before.
Failing the expectations and contrary to what it ought to be doing, the Judiciary and its organs are coming up with all sorts of vague verdicts and pronouncing inferior punishments with respect to the severity of the crimes. A 17-y-o, drunk, derelicted man (a juvenile only on paper), taking the lives of two software engineers with rash driving, gets a punishment by the Juvenile Justice Board of writing a 300-word essay on ‘accidents’; while in the other case, one commits a heinous crime of torturous rape and murder of a medical practitioner and is still granted relief from capital punishment with the court considering the crime not falling under the 'rarest of the rare' category.
It's a collective failure of not just the legal landscape in the country, but also the Indian policing and the other investigation agencies that these cold-blooded monsters brandishing rowdiness are either spared and acquitted altogether, or are provided preferential treatment even after brazenly breaching all the limits of humanity. Officials’ lackadaisical attitude, corrupt practices, biased approach, and apathy towards the common society, are all to blame for the justice taking a stroll only in the lawns of the powerful few (by money or might). The entire system of law in the country despite the recent roll out of the BNS, the BNSS and the BSA replacing the IPC, the CrPC, and the IEA respectively (I guess these acronyms alone are normalised enough) still impedes the rule of law and tempers with the overall justice system in the country to a large extent.
Lacunae in the Indian Judiciary have been quite evident at least in the eyes of critical observers. A former Chief Justice of India getting a seat in the Rajya Sabha soon after his retirement; granting all powers related to transfer and appointment in the hands of Collegium that's long alleged of promoting favoritism; judges savoring month(s)-long summer vacations when over 5 crore cases remain pending in the Judiciary (docket explosion) and almost 75% of all the inmates languishing in the Indian prisons accounting for the 'undertrials'; arranging urgent late night hearing and granting bail to a seasoned journalist, but refusing even a sipper to an octogenarian- Father Stan Swamy ultimately leading to his death; and impinging upon the powers of legislature by crossing the barrier of ‘judicial activism’ and sneaking into ‘judicial overreach’, the actions and priorities of the Judiciary are constantly raising the eyebrows.
(IN ANY CASE, I am NOT commenting (neither I ever intend to) on whether the above conviction or the acquittal was justified or not. These highly learned justices and judges definitely do it better. Also, I am not advocating for the scrapping of the Collegium or Summer Vacations altogether, neither pitching for the earlier NJAC to come into being all again. That might turn out to be even more problematic. But yes, several structural bottlenecks remain, and need to be rectified at the earliest.)
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Who should be held accountable for this travesty (to an extent) of the Indian legal system? Rather, more importantly, who will bell the cat for bringing in the favorable changes? The government, the Judiciary…or the POTUS? Well…obviously a constructive collaboration of the first two, before the third one lambasts us again (this time for the compromised legal system) like he's been doing.
Every common individual, no matter poor or rich, oppressed or gifted, Muslim or Hindu, Dalit or Brahmin, man or woman, looks up to the judiciary for justice. Getting their trust eroded due to all these issues won't just make them look down at it, but will also push the society to a dramatic failure in the longer run. It's high time now when all the stakeholders come together, brainstorm, and aggressively counter these challenges. Sweeping changes are required at various levels, that under the able leadership of the incumbent CJI and his able team, doesn't really seem like an impossible feat.