Delayed, Denied and Beyond Reach: A Disaster Called India's Justice Delivery System

Shocking news keeps coming in, on a daily basis, from our justice delivery institutions. The latest being the virtual dressing down of the Supreme Court by a high court judge. That apart, shocking as it is, it seems the courts and other adjudicatory bodies are making themselves irrelevant day after day. Is there any point in blaming anybody? Will introspection be of any use? Is justice dead?

Problem No. 1

There are chronic delays everywhere. The courts have, would you believe it, over 5 crore cases pending. Of these, more than 48 lakh or about 10% are pending for more than 10 years and the number will keep increasing as the days go by. How many of these litigants will get justice within their lifetime?

This is not all. The number of cases pending before other bodies such as the Information Commissions under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has sky-rocketed to 3.2 lakh as on June 30, 2023. It has been estimated by the Satark Nagrik Sangathan (NGO) that, on an average, it could take about a year for the disposal of a query for information, depending on where the application is made.

In West Bengal, it could take more than 24 years; in Tamil and Maharashtra, it could take more than 3 years. Should you get a response, it might be really crazy. A short while back, information was sought relating to the correspondence on the possibility of relocating some cheetahs outside Kuno. The querist was declined an answer by the government relying on Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act. This provision relates to denial of information because disclosure would “prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence.” Really? Can you believe this?

Cases pending before the National Green Tribunal are more than 3,900 as on June 30. This does not seem such a large number, but remember, in the last one year, the Tribunal disposed of only 278 cases. So, if you file a case today about the proposed devastation of the Great Nicobar Island or the wanton felling of trees in the Aravalli Hills or the equally wanton felling in the Hasdeo Arand forests in Chhattisgarh, you may have to wait for more than 10 years to know whether the massive tree felling exercise was illegal or not. And meanwhile, you can try and figure out why there is so much air pollution across the country.

All of us are consumers. If you are unlucky enough to purchase a defective gadget, and the manufacturer refuses to replace it, you could approach the statutory consumer forum for justice. Between December 2022 and September 2023, the number of cases before the consumer fora reduced by 10,000 to 5.45 lakh. My arithmetic is not particularly great, so I would assume at the present rate of disposal, it would take maybe 5 or 10 years to get justice. By the way, as of last week, the total number of pending cases in all Consumer Commissions is a staggering 6.8 lakh. Ask yourself: would you care to approach the consumer courts for justice?

With such a crumbling or crumbled system, would it be incorrect to say that justice in our country is really a mirage that litigants keep chasing? Would it also be incorrect to say that many would prefer to stay away from courts or other adjudicatory bodies and suffer injustice? Remember that recently, the Chief Justice of India said something to the effect that (litigating) parties are ready to accept any sort of settlement because they want to get out of the system. How true.

Problem No. 2

Apart from delays in justice delivery, the failure of the establishment to fairly and quickly implement judgments and orders is a cause for serious concern. The guidelines for sexual harassment in the workplace, given in the famous Vishakha judgement, remained guidelines for several years. It took the horrific Nirbhaya case about 13 years later for parliament to enact a law. Why? Is women’s safety not important?

The judgment of the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case (2006) regarding police reforms is another classic case of non-implementation of a judgment for 18 years. Are we waiting from some major tragedy to occur for police reforms to take place?

Non-implementation of judgments and laws inevitably leads to impunity. The recent decision of the Delhi high court regarding the brutalisation of Faizan (2024) resulting in his murder (not death) is a shocking example of the impunity surrounding what are called official acts of the police. This emboldens the police everywhere, as in Tamil Nadu where Jayaram and Bennix were murdered by thrashing.

What did Faizan do? He refused to sing the national anthem in 2020, during the Delhi riots, while being mauled by the police. It is possible that he could not sing the national anthem because he was so badly thrashed that he became incapable of singing. We will never know the cause-and-effect truth. Had he committed any offence? No. Why was he savaged by the police? Nobody knows, except the police culprits and they have not yet been identified four years later. Justice?

What did Jayaram and Bennix do? They were accused of keeping open their mobile repair shop beyond closing hours in violation of lockdown rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this “offence”, the police gave them such a thrashing that they died. Later, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe revealed they had not violated the lockdown rules. Justice or injustice?

Also read: Custodial Torture Continues Unabated in India Amidst Culture of Impunity: Report

On the question of impunity – is sexual harassment by a constitutional authority an ‘official’ act permissible because of a kavach of impunity?

Bulldozer justice is nothing but a way of bulldozing justice. Today, it is making people homeless; tomorrow a minor change in implementation strategy could make people lifeless. Fake encounters are a manifestation of this impunity. Can you imagine – we even have encounter specialists? Meaningless arrest is another manifestation.

Recently Delhi witnessed a shocking case of drowning of three IAS aspirants in an illegal basement library. Guess who got arrested? The driver of a car who was accused of driving at a high speed and creating a wave of water that broke open the gates of the building, eventually leading to flooding of the illegal basement library. And guess what, the judge sent him to judicial custody on a charge of culpable homicide. The Acting Chief Justice of Delhi was shocked and rightly asked whether the police had lost it. Such is justice.

Just a couple of days ago, the Chief Justice of India said that people are avoiding the courts because of lengthy processes resulting in delays. They obviously realise that justice is now beyond their reach, not only in matters of money, but also time. So, they are prepared to accept a fraction of their entitlements through a Lok Adalat. They seem to believe, if the courts can’t give us justice, might as well accept injustice. Reminds one of Marie Antoinette, no?

Let’s ask ourselves (and we might face the guillotine for it) what are our justice delivery systems and mechanisms doing about these painful happenings? My answer: regrettably, nothing tangible. Today, it’s not a who will bell the cat crisis, but who will wake up Rip Van Winkle or Kumbhakaran, or both. Sorry, but we are hurtling towards a too-late-to do-anything situation at break-neck speed and may have already reached the breaking point.

Problem No. 3 

Nobody wants to discuss judicial reforms.

Justice Madan B. Lokur is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India.