Problems in the Indian judicial system

Problems in the Indian judicial system

Author: Adv. Mrityunjay Kumar, Patna High Court

One of the oldest legal systems in the world today is the Indian judicial system and it still incorporates some of the features inherited from the British judicial system during its centuries of colonial rule in India.  The Indian Constitution, which is the supreme law of the country, provides the framework for the current legal and judicial system of the country.  India’s judicial system follows a “common law system” as well as regulatory law and statutory law

Another important feature of our legal system is that it is based on the adversarial system, in which two sides of the story are presented to a neutral judge in each case, who then render judgments based on the arguments and evidence of the case.

However, our judicial system faces some inherent problems, which show the weaknesses and flaws of the system, and which require immediate reform and accountability.

According to me, there are mainly Five problems in the Indian judicial system:

1. Corruption in the judiciary: – Like any other institution of government, the Indian judicial system is also not too clean.  It is also in the preview of the corruption (in some instances). There are some cases where judges have been convicted in the case of corruption. There is no system of accountability of the Indian judiciary.  The media also does not give a clear picture due to fear of contempt.  Without the permission of the Chief Justice of India, there is no provision to register an FIR against a bribe-taking judge. In 2011, Soumitra Sen, a former judge at the Calcutta High Court became the first judge in the India to be impeached by the Rajya Sabha alleged for misappropriation of funds.

2. Backlog of pending cases: –  India’s legal system has the largest backlog of pending cases in the world – about 4 crore cases were pending in courts across the country before the corona pandemic hit, which The number of pending cases has increased due to the complete halt of the work of the courts in the recent Covid19 period and is continuing, among them, according to an estimate, about 35 million cases are pending in the lower courts of the country, about  More than 50 lakh cases are pending in High Court, around 1 lakh cases are pending in Supreme Court.  This number is continuously increasing and this in itself reflects the inadequacy of the legal system.  It has always been discussed to increase the number of judges, create more courts, but implementation is always late or insufficient.  Victims are normal or poor people, while the rich can afford expensive lawyers and change the course of delivery of the law in their favor.  It also creates a major blockade for international investors and corporations to do business in India.  And because of this backlog, most inmates in India’s jails are awaiting trial.

3. Lack of transparency: –  Another problem facing the Indian judicial system is lack of transparency.  It is seen that the Right to Information (RTI) Act is completely outside the purview of the legal system.  Thus, in the functioning of the judiciary, important issues such as quality of justice and accountability cannot be properly known.

4. Lack of facilities in Indian jails / Legal aid:-   In Indian jails, most of the poor/helpless prisoners are under trial, who are confined to the jails till their case comes to a definite conclusion.  In the vast majority of cases, they spend more time in prison which is much more than the actual sentence period. Moreover, the expense and pain and pain of defending themselves in the courts is worse than the actual punishment, and until  Not convicted unless convicted.  On the other hand, rich and powerful people can bring the police in their favor, and during long hours in the courts, the police can harass or silence/inconveniencing and impoverishing the poor. Although there is a proper system for free legal aid in the district the uneducated persons are not able to take its benefits due to a lack of proper implementation.

5. No talks with society: – It is very important that any country’s judiciary should be an integral part of society and its relationship with society should be made regular and relevant. It is also seen that in many countries, there is a participation of common citizens in judicial decisions. However, in India, there is no connection to the society of the Indian judicial system, something that was inherited from the British judicial system. But, things should be changed in the last 60 years. Even today, law officials have not been able to meet the land to meet the common people. We see that despite all the progress in information and communication technologies, the lives of the people of the country are changing dramatically, the legal system of India still looks like a dabang and pretense British people who are related to an elite and country. In fact, the current system of justice is completely out of time and reconciliation with democratic processes and norms, which is only a certain class of society contained. Therefore, there is an urgent need to reconstitute the entire judicial system to make it accountable to the needs of a democratic, progressive society.

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