JUDICIARY : FOR A BETTER FUTURE

Judiciary, one of the three branches of the state indeed is one of the most important pillars of the state functioning . Regrettably this pillar has not been given the proper deference and connotation it deserves. For example :

A . The expenditure on judiciary in our country in terms of GNP is relatively low. It is not more than 0.2 per cent. In Korea, it is more than 0.2 per cent; in Singapore, it is 1.2 per cent; in U.K. it is 4.3 per cent; and in U.S.A. it is 1.4 per cent. Unlike in the other departments of the Government, more than half of the amount which is spent on Indian Judiciary is raised from the Judiciary itself through collection of court fees, stamp duty and miscellaneous matters. Therefore, any increase in the salary structure of the Judicial Officers cannot be considered as a burden to the State. ( for further info visit http://www.kar.nic.in/fnjpc/preface.html )
The Irony is greater because USA is approximately one fourth in population and manifold in economic resources hence per capita judiciary expenditure is amazingly high in U.S.A and low in India .Similar is the case with Korea, U.K and Singapore.

B . Judiciary procedures are India is ironically very expensive for common man .The maxim “ Ubi Jes Ibi Idem Remedium “ means when law provides rights it also provides remedies for the protection of the rights. But the purpose of law is defeated if the remedy is not provided with in time or not at all . At present 3,03,635 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, as per the information given in the Rajya Sabha. The number of pending cases in the High Courts is 33, 41,040. The subordinate courts have reported the number of pending cases at over 2,53,00,000. Many of the of the cases did not even make it to courts because of whole lethargy of the system .

The time-bound disposal of cases is within the exclusive domain of the judiciary. More than 2.8 carores of pending cases with courts having less than 200 working days in an year and more and more cases adding on per day , what is going to be the situation few years from hence ? Do people will continue their faith in Judiciary ?

1. If we look at the root of the problems of the nation we will find improper & sluggish functioning of judiciary SAY , FOR EXAMPLE judiciary attains what we want ,now lets analyze these problems & there solutions in context with judiciary .Take up any of the problems faced by the country this time , say :
Population , corruption , illiteracy , environment degradation , crimes even unemployment , communal and caste disputes etc every thing has its solutions in judiciary if it is empowered , corruption free and efficient .This because law believes in ‘Audi Alter am Par tem ‘ that is a proper decision would be taken only after hearing to both the parties without any prejudices or biased ness . Through PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATIONS, RIGHT TO INFORMATIONACT and many other legislatation which fail to purpose due to these inefficiencies a sustainable improvement can be made .
You can review the funds management of your district by just writing an application to the DM of your city under right to information act ; law guaranties employment to all hence by bringing P.I.L’s it can be made accountable ; hence if we think we see that judiciary is capable of solving all the problems. There would be immense job creation with proper legal system as it will facilitate fair business and various companies would like to come to India and the result would be economic advantages and holistic social development. Moreover the extra expenditures made on judicial reforms would be recovered with the overall development of the nation .
Only problem now comes how to solve the problem of Judiciary.

2. The problem does not lies with the laws which is a secondary problem but their implementation which is a Herculean task to improve.
There are many ways which are briefly expressed:
a) Working of courts 16/7
b) Reduction of the court holidays esp. the summer break as these were designed during the time of British India because the English judges could not bear the heat and they used to go back to England for these two months. Now these holidays have no relevance.
c) Working in shifts which is highly economical as infrastructure used is the same. This will also increase the earnings of the not well established advocates hence promote equitable distribution of wealth. (This system was long before suggested but no decision was ever made )
d) Appointment of large no. judges by increasing seats .( this can be done without compromising in quality because we have a large human bank )
e) Lack of incentives in this field is the main cause of abstinence of best brains from entering into subordinate courts instead more lucrative fields such as IT and Medical . Hence attraction should be made by providing handsome salaries and incentive based working .
f) Following the example of ‘e-seva’ in Andra Pradesh, whole process should be computerized and made available on internet (this would curtail huge expenses, corruption and increase transparency)
g) Formation of fast track courts where citizen advocates can fight trivial cases
h) Lack of awareness is main reason for its non enforcement. So a subject of law can be made mandatory at high school level and under graduate level. (citizen advocates)
i) One stop window : there are long futile procedures which are not only expensive but create opaqueness in our system which can be cut short and the systems can be made simple . (example of recent SEZ’s) .
j) Compulsory scrutiny should made in the cases where either government losses the case or there is no grounds for the case. As it will deter government officials from harassing citizens and exploiting the system .
k) A time limit should be fixed for cases and the judge should be liable and made answerable for the delay in the case.(as in England the time period for a case is 6 months )


Conclusion
People still have more faith in judiciary than any other system of the government because when they bring their plead the person sitting next to them is well qualified judge who is said to be personally unbiased towards the parties unlike the case of politicians or local officers. Hence it is the last hope of the common man. It is not the harsh punishments but a proper implementation of law that will deter criminals and wrong doers. The whole web of problems is interlinked which can be broken by the active participation of law makers, citizens and Government officials in the process of Judicial Reforms.
Our law makers and government should realize that we should not be playing ‘Penny Wise Pound Foolish’, Judicial empowerment will bring a hoalistic development of the country save a huge amount of resources which otherwise spent and moreover smooth functioning of the society will create better resources and harmony.