An American Scholar named Jerome Frank once said that In the Democratic Country, the Courts are not for judges, nor for lawyers, they belong to the citizens of that country. Our Constitution also provides us with the economic, political, and social in the text, but it’s a sad reality that after 73 years of the formation of the Constitution, people are not effectively getting justice. The victims have to run from pillar to post begging for justice. The Popular saying in the criminal justice system is “Justice delayed, Justice denied”, The Justice delayed affected two Fundamental Rights i.e. Right to access justice and the Rule of law. Various Judgments of the Supreme Court of India itself said that right to have a speedy trial is a fundamental right enshrined under Article 21[1] of the Indian Constitution. In “Hussainara Khatoon vs. Home Secretary, State of Bihar (1979)”[2], the apex court held that the right to speed trial is an essential part of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, in the same case Justice PN Bhagwati said that the state cannot give away its responsibility of providing timely and fairly justice because of some administrative or Financial constraints.
The Supreme Court of India was established in 1950, it plays a very important role in the rule of law, and securing the rights of citizens, but recently the court has grappled with a critical challenge – the escalating pendency of cases and needs to be addressed. According to the Ministry of Law, there are 5 crores pending cases in all the courts of India. The 221st Law Commission report[3] also advised disposing of the cases in a speedier manner. The Committee is also set up under the chairmanship of Justice Malimath for the reform of the justice system named Malimath Committee[4], it found reasons for the pendency of cases and also gave some suggestions for disposing of the relevant cases outside the court institutes like ADR, Lok Adalat, and also to hear the day-to-day without adjournment.
The Constitutionally guaranteed principles as mentioned in the preamble like equality, social, economic, and political justice, fraternity, and liberty all will be mere words if the justice delivery system is effective and in time bound manner. The speedy trial is part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Indian constitution. Henceforth, the delay in the disposal of cases is a direct violation of the fundamental rights of citizens.
THE IMPACT OF INCREASING PENDING CASES
The timely and effective Justice delivery is the most essential part of any democratic country. In recent years, India is facing the huge challenge of Pendency paralysis and that impact our system, our citizen, and our image globally very badly.
The Major Impacts of Increasing pending cases: –
- Delay in Justice delivery- ‘Justice delayed is the Justice denied’, this prolonged pendency of cases causes a very drastic impact on the timely delivery of justice to the victims. This violates their fundamental right of getting justice effectively and timely. As a result, people and entities engaged in these cases are stuck in legal limbo, their grievances unanswered, and unable to go on with their lives or businesses.
- Eroding of Public Trust- In running life, everyone is busy in this situation the victims are running from pillar to post begging for justice. If some mishappening cause to you one day you will be getting justice for it 5 to 10 years later, is that justice served, is it still worth the same, the simple answer to this situation is No. This is not just a situation, this is the reality of our justice system, due to which public trust in our judiciary is eroding, and degrading.
- Pressure and burden on litigants- The prolonged pendency of cases causes a financial, emotional, and sometimes physical burden on the litigants which is also the liability on the judiciary.
- Socio-Economic Impact- The burden of cases also impacts socio-economically, The Supreme Court is having so many cases that have a societal and economic impact on people, and delay in deciding those matters can cause damage, and serves no purpose.
IMPORTANT CASES PENDING BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT
There are lakhs of cases pending before the Supreme Court of India, but at the same time, there is some high profile that causes societal and economic impacts. If these are delayed more, they will serve no purpose. A basic example of this is the demonetization case, recently the Supreme Court of India delivered the Judgment in the case named Vivek Narayan Sharma vs Union of India[5], in which the court held in favour of the Government and declared the demonetization exercise valid, but after 6 to 7 years now think of it will serve any purpose I don’t think so, but just imagine hypothetically what if the Supreme Court had decided in favour of the petitioner and invalidated the demonetization completely, ironically this is not what the petitioner himself wanted after 6-7 years because this would have worsened the situation hence, it serves no purpose of deciding the matter after so many years.
There are so many similar cases that are still pending before the Supreme Court, that need to be disposed of. Here are some cases: –
- Abrogation of Article 370 (Dr. Shah Faesal Vs Union of India[6])
The Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir was abrogated on 5th August 2019 by the Presidential Order. The petition was filed before the Supreme Court against the order and also some human right violation after abrogation and internet suspension petitions merged with the petitions. Here we go again the case is still pending before the Supreme Court was last heard on March 2020 almost three years passed, but the people of Jammu and Kashmir still do not get justice.
They all have moved on with their life, and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is under control. We cannot pass the Judgment before the court, but what if those rights were actually violated, does this matter still worth the same, no it doesn’t. Our Hon’ble apex court needs to understand the importance of the petition filed before it, and the importance of the guardianship they have got from the constitution. A case of this kind should be listed in an urgent hearing and disposed of as soon as possible, it doesn’t serve any purpose after years of years wait.
- Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Indian Union Muslim League v Union of India[7])
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 was passed by the parliament which aims to grant citizenship to the illegal immigrants belonging to belonging Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian communities, from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. When the Act is viewed along with NRC (National Register of Citizens), it has the potential to take away the citizenship of Muslims, as the Muslim religion is not mentioned in the above act. Hence, the petition was under Article 32 of the Indian constitution in the Supreme Court for the violation of Fundamental Rights. But, what happened, nothing, the matter is still pending before the Supreme Court for 3 years.
We all know the shaheen bagh protest against this very act, the protest ended without any conclusion of their demands. The Supreme Court should take the matter urgently and decide it on an urgent basis before it got late.
- Electoral Bonds Scheme, 2018 (Association for Democratic Reforms & Anr. Vs Union of India &Ors.[8])
The electoral Bond scheme was announced in Finance Act 2017, and the petition was filed right after that challenging the scheme by CPI(M.) and NGO Common Cause and Association for Democratic Reforms as “an obscure funding system which is unchecked by any authority”. The Political Parties misuse this scheme for allowing their political funding anonymously. But after 5 years, the case is still pending before the court undecided.
Several Reports questioned the scheme, even though RBI and Election Commission also raised various doubts and disagreements with the scheme, Still the case is pending which allows political parties to raise money illegally without any hindrance. The Supreme Court should take the matter urgently and decide it on an urgent basis before it got late.
REASONS FOR PENDENCY PARALYSIS
There are various reasons for the pendency of cases, some of them are as follows:
- People are getting aware of their rights: This is not a problem but just a reason for more cases being filed in courts for rights violations. With development and technology, people are getting more aware of their rights. Multiple NGOs were formed for some particular cause like Ngo working for women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and so on. Now the more people know their rights, the more they know the approach to courts for the violation of those rights.
- Inadequate number of Judges: The number of Judges is there in courts is an important issue to look after. As per the Ministry of Law’s reply in Rajya Sabha, India have only 21 judges per million population. Which is the main reason for the pending cases in every court. The ex-minister of law Mr. Kiren Rijiju said “The judge-to-population ratio (judge per million population) concerning sanctioned strength of judges is 21.03 as on December 31, 2021. The sanctioned strength of the apex court is 34 while it is 1098 for the 25 high courts.” This mark a great problem faced by our Indian Judiciary.
- Bundling of Bail Petitions in the higher judiciary: Bail as a rule, Jail as an exception, The Principle given by one of the prestigious judges of India Justice Vaidyanathapuram Rama Krishna Iyer “in the case of ‘State of Rajasthan vs Balchand alias Baliay, 1978”[9]. Despite this, there are so many bail petitions pending before the court to be decided, which causes the pendency of cases.
- Misuse of RTI and PIL: PIL and RTI were introduced in India for the protection of citizens’ rights in the 1980s and 2005 respectively, but with time people started using it for personal benefit and fame, which is not the reason why they were introduced. The filing of PIL and RTI directly hinders speedy trials and increases the pendency of cases.
MAJORS AND THE SUGGESTIONS
There can be various majors to be taken by the courts and government to halt the pendency of cases. The first and foremost thing to be done is to increase the appointment and number of judges, it can be done by more vacancies. As of now, the state is soul administration for the Judicial exam, various states have their method of selecting judges in lower courts, but there is a need for an hour to establish an Indian Judicial Service for the appointment and selection of judges. Similarly, 1st, 8th 11th and 116th the law commission report also recommended establishing of All India Judicial Service.
Adoption of the ADR method for dispute resolution and the establishment of more courts can be other majors for controlling the pendency of cases. For this, awareness about the ADR and to make the ADR system more people-friendly financially is to be done. The state should establish more and more courts for particular matters, the 245th Law Commission report also recommended the state establish more courts for trivial matters like traffic challan, and other civil offenses which are burdening the courts.
CONCLUSION
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere,” said the American Activist Martin Luther King, the condition of pendency of cases is very similar, delaying justice is denying justice is causing injustice to individuals. The State and Judiciary should work combined to eradicate this problem and to minimize the pendency of cases by taking appropriate majors.
In the case of Babu Singh and Ors. vs State of Uttar Pradesh[10], Justice Krishna Iyyer stated that “Our justice system even in grave cases suffers the slow-motion syndrome which is liable to fail the trial, whatever the ultimate decision is”. This is need to be addressed, this issue causes a huge human rights violation.
[1] Constitution of India, 1950, art.21
[2] Hussainara Khatoon vs. Home Secretary, State of Bihar, 1979 SCR (3) 532
[3] Volume 1, Law Commission of India, Needs for Speedy Justice- Some Suggestions Report no.221, (Law Commision of India, Government of India, 2009)
[4] Volume 1, Justice VS Malimath Committee, Committee on Reforms of Criminal Justice System, Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs Report, 133-145, (Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, 2003)
[5] Vivek Narayan Sharma vs Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 906 of 2016
[6] Shah Faesal and Ors. vs. Union of India (UOI) and Ors , 2020/INSC/253
[7] Indian Union of Muslim League and Ors. vs. Union of India and Ors., Writ Petitions (Civil) No. 1470/2019
[8] Association for Democratic Reforms and Ors. vs. Union of India (UOI) and Ors, 2021/INSC/222
[9] State of Rajasthan vs Balchand alias Baliay, 1978 SCR (1) 535
[10] Babu Singh and Ors. vs State of Uttar Pradesh, 1978 SCR (2) 777
Author: Anukul Bishnoi
Juris Centre 