As per the Legal maxim “Justice delayed is Justice denied,” if a person who has suffered harm has access to a legal remedy, but that remedy is not used immediately, it is functionally the same as having no remedy at all. The maxim has been a rallying point for legal reformers who believe that governments and courts take too long to resolve legal disputes because either the current system is overly complicated or burdensome, or because the subject or party in question does not have political favor.
To resolve disputes and uphold national peace and order, each nation has its own laws and regulations. Justice is rightfully referred to as protector of civil rights and the shield of innocence, as Martin Luther King said, Injustice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere.
“JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED” may be directly tied to the current situation of our country. According to statistics, there are currently 4.4 Crore cases left in India, which is truly a sign of danger for our Indian Judiciary. Seeing this record can cause someone to lose faith in the judicial system because, if a crime is committed, a court is thought to protect the victim’s rights.
The term “justice” appears in the preamble of the Indian constitution because the founding fathers of India had the goal of ensuring justice for each and every individual. But the past 57 years of experience demonstrate that the state has completely failed to handle some very fundamental concerns, provide rapid and expensive justice, and defend the rights of the weak and poor. With 30 million lawsuits that take so long that even a generation is not enough to obtain any sort of redress because India is a wide country with many different religions, a great number of people, and a lack of symmetrical arrangement of courts and public agencies, the system is collapsed here.
According to our country’s current situation, it will take 300 years to finish the number of lawsuits in Indian courts, which is evidence that our criminal justice system is severely out of date and desperately needs to be completely redesigned.
- In the case of Upphar Cinema[1], it took six years to establish that 59 people died as a result of the criminal negligence of the Delhi government and the cinema administration, according to a committee that was established a few years ago under the direction of Justice V.S. Malimath to review reforms.
- Mukesh & Anr v. State for NCT of Delhi & Ors[2] popularly known as the NIRBHAYA CASE, a three judge bench decision headed by Justice R Bahumathi and other judges Justice Bhushan and Justice A S Bopanna, is the most recent instance of justice being delayed. All 4 of the men, who were found guilty in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape case and murder case, were hanged seven years after the heinous crime.
- Similar to the Ayodhya verdict[3], which was rendered on November 9, 2019, by a five-judge panel led by the Chief Justice of India and comprised of Justices S. A. Bobde, Ashok Bhushan, D. Y. Chandra Bhushan, and Abdul Nazeer, the constitution bench announced the construction of the Ram Mandir at the location of the former Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, putting an end to the centuries-long disputes between The SC further ordered the federal government to give Muslims in Ayodhya access to a conspicuous and acceptable five-acre area on which to construct a mosque.
- In State Of Karnataka vs Selvi J. Jayalalitha & Ors[4], a complaint was made against Jayalalitha onJune 1996, alleging that she had accumulated assets in excess of her recognized sources of income. A year later, in June 1997, the initial charge sheet was submitted. Twenty years after the charge sheet was presented, the Supreme Court issued the ruling in February of 2017. Although Jayalalitha was found guilty, she had already passed away by that point, as we all know.
Reasons for Justice delayed –
- The judiciary in India is corrupt.
Is India’s judicial system unethical? The corrupting of the legal system is one of the possible reasons for its postponement. The dishonest judges may purposely withhold their decision or grant unfair adjournments to the party they support. Personal bias or conviction may be used to support the judgment.
The cash at doorstep case:
The high court judge Nirmal Yadav was found guilty of taking Rs. 15 lakh from Delhi businessman Ravinder Singh in the “cash at doorstep” case in 2008. This money was accidentally sent to Justice Nirmal Yadav’s Chandigarh home for the first time on August 13, 2008 (Who was then a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court). The following morning at her official apartment, the cash is said to have been given to Nirmal Yadav. The money was handed to Justice Nirmaljit Kaur’s house by Parkash Ram, a clerk for attorney Sanjiv Bansal, who later served as additional attorney general of Haryana on Ravinder Singh’s orders. When the money arrived at Justice Nirmaljit Kaur’s house, she notified the Chandigarh police, who detained Parkash Ram and seized the money.
- Unquestionably one of the main causes of this delay is the country’s inadequate number of judges and courts.
- If the insufficient number of judges is one factor contributing to the length of the legal procedure, inefficiency and incompetence on the part of the judges are additional factors.
- The courts lack a work culture.
Remedies for delayed justice
According to population, there is a need to establish more courts and hire more judges. The country’s population has grown significantly, as has the number of cases, but the judgment services seem to be understaffed. Similar situation exists with respect to the courts, when there are less than necessary given the demand. One of the lowest percentages in the world, India is thought to have only approximately II Judges per million people. It is obvious that more judges are needed immediately, especially local judges who can serve the general public.
Some of the other remedies include –
- There is a need to educate all of the country’s citizens on the importance of law and order as well as their individual rights to seek justice.
- In addition, each person is introduced to Lok Adalat, which will assist in easing some of the weight on subordinate courts.
- The removal of pointless justifications for adjournments is the most crucial adjustment that has to be made in the judiciary since they are a waste of time and force the court to levy fines for ridiculous justifications for adjournments.
- The number of cases brought before the courts should be lowered in order to discourage frivolous litigation.
- Natural justice: Because it is based on a universal sense of what is right and wrong, natural justice is a natural means to resolve disagreements between parties. It is common law and derives its name from “Jus Naturala”, which is Latin for “Law of Nature.” Natural justice, which helps to administer justice using layman’s terms and a natural basis, has a fairly broad definition in and of itself. As it provides immediate justice on a natural basis, it is another approach to distribute the load of the legal system.
E-Court project
The National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary – 2005, which was submitted by the committee, Supreme Court of India, served as the foundation for the conception of the E-Courts Project. The committee’s goal was to transform the Indian Judiciary by ICT-enabling the Courts.
The committee is a body established by the Government of India in response to a proposal from the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India to set up a committee to help him develop a national policy on the computerization of the Indian Judiciary and provide advice on management and communication-related changes in technology.
The Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India supervises and finances the Pan-Indian E-Courts Mission Mode Project on behalf of all District Courts in the nation.
Challenges when transitioning to E-Courts
- A lack of well trained staff.
- A lack of technical personnel
- Lawyers and litigants’ lack of understanding of how the legal system works.
- Limited internet access and technical advancement.
- Threats to cyber security
- Inadequate funding.
- Insufficient electricity and infrastructure.
Computerization of Courts
E-Courts are completely automated and paperless. They have excellent usability. Judges are instructed to concentrate on online data entry, and there is a need to hire workers for paperless courts.
E-court advantages:
- To deliver citizen-centric services effectively and on schedule, as outlined in the Litigant’s Charter for the E-Court Project.
- To create, set up, and put into action decision support systems in courts.
- To automate the procedures for ensuring transparency in the stakeholders’ access to information.
- To increase judicial productivity on both a qualitative and quantitative level in order to make the delivery of justice more accessible, predictable, cost-effective, and transparent.
- Attending a hearing is possible from any location; mobility is not necessary. (As was evident when online hearings took place during Lockdown)
Conclusion
The courts are now dealing with 30 million pending cases. It will take 300 years, on average, to settle the arrears. Action must be taken right away. By establishing the essential norms, Indian courts’ effectiveness can be improved. To make the necessary headway in judicial reforms, everyone must put out consistent, cumulative effort. For real change to occur, fundamental reforms and a strong resolve are required.
In the same way that “Justice delayed is justice denied” it is also true that “Justice hurried is justice buried.” Therefore, it is essential for natural justice and the balance of convenience that each case be given a sufficient, reasonable, and due hearing while taking its circumstances into account.
[1] II (2003) ACC 114, 2003 ACJ 1631, 2003 IIIAD Delhi 321, 104 (2003) DLT 234, 2003 (68) DRJ 128, 2003 RLR 333
[2] (2017)6 SCC 1
[3] Civil Appeal Nos 10866-10867 of 2010
[4] 2002 CriLJ 3026
This written is written by Rakhi Agarwal, 3 year LLB student ,Indian Institute of Legal Studies during her internship with LeDroit India.
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