Fading Hope in Indian Judiciary

 

“There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It  supersedes all other courts.”
– Mahatma Gandhi –


The symbol of Court of Justice is a pair of scales held evenly by an impartial and  blind but sagacious woman. A Court is a tribunal often as a government institution  with the authority to adjudicate of justice in civil, criminal and administrative  matters in accordance with the rule of law. Access to justice has always remained an  inseparable part of justice delivery system. This follows the doctrine of ubi jus ibi  remedium.Thus any impediment on accessing the courtroom is an impediment to  the fundamental and human right of access to justice.Most of the case in fact what judges are doing is, deciding cases based on their  personal values and people forced to call it as a Political Court and not court of  justice. India has adopted the adversarial Criminal Justice model which caters to  public interest by punishing wrongdoers and setting a deterring effect for society at  large. However it works in favour of private interest by preventing wrongful  conviction and protecting life and liberty of accused.Linda Greenhouse the former  New York Times Reporter who covered Supreme Court for decades says    “Court  is a collection of politicians in robes early it was not so .This past week I have  found myself struggling against the impulse to say two words   ‘I surrender’ –  people are not able to raise their voice for rights”­Once justice Karnan said, “Indian judiciary is corrupted”. And he wrote a letter to  president of India and justice Agarwal that he is having evidence against Chief  Justice of India and 20 other judges of Supreme Court regarding corruption in  Indian judiciary. Immediately there was an action in this demons­critic India, in the  name of Contempt of Court Karnan got imprisoned and this judiciary called him “psychic”. His sound had a rasping hoarseness but shrill tones of judiciary kept him  dumb .Supreme Court in 2017 convicted Justice Karnan guilty of contempt and  punished for 6 months imprisonment. In the grab of judiciary malafide plays are  scaling up every now and then. It is crystal clear that recently Justice Muralidar got  transfer from Delhi High Court because he pulled up Delhi police for failing to  register FIRs against three BJP leaders for their alleged hate speeches which  purportedly led to the recent violence in northeast Delhi. Soumya’s murder and rape case [Govindhachamy vs State of Kerala] was an  opportunity where judiciary could have set an example in the society by awarding  death punishment to the accused. The Court had taken five long years to deliver the  judgement and as it is rightly said that justice delayed is justice denied. Which  court could have proved wrong by a just decision declaring as the rarest of rare case  and concluded as mere robbery and assault.In the Delhi gang rape case[Kritika Padode and anthrs vs Union of India]the court  found the juvenile accused is guilty  of  murder and rape of a 23year old girl and he  got  away just three years imprisonment who violated the victim’s body with iron  rode and pulled out her intestine. Though the rest of the four convicts hanged after  8 years is justice languished and justice denied.  India is constipated with lots of humbung.Take religion, sex, education even  administration of Justice. Here all we can see there are some people to manipulate  things in favour of private interest. People have been slaughtered in the name of  cow protection. Couples have been murdered in the name of Love Jihad. Artists  have been threatened for their creativity. Modesty of woman is getting outraged in  every single moment in our country. Political gimmick played a very crucial role in  the clashes between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Muzaffarnagar and  even in Delhi riot which occurred recently as a part of Citizenship Amendment Act  2019. Why it is necessary to exclude Muslim Immigrants from CAA. Why court  kept dump face when presidential order scrapped the special status of Jammu and  Kashmir and delayed in its action to release detainees in Jammu and Kashmir for  last several months and still on?Should we tag people on the basis of religion? Should religion be a factor when two adults fell in love?What we really lack is the enforcement of law. No citizen shall be deprived of his  personal liberty without reasonable evidence against him is the bedrock of human  rights and the cornerstone of an equitable system of justice. The people have  voluntarily given the state enormous power over their lives in order to live in a  lawful society. When the state errs in exercise of this power it must offer reparation  to its victims. Not doing so would be breaking covenant that is the bedrock of a  democracy.Delay in disposal of cases and pendency are most important challenges of India’s  legal system at present because of this people are tasting bitterness and savour of  injustice instead of sweetness of justice. Problems in the smooth dispensation of  justice are multifold and multifarious. So speedy trials and fair representation along  with enforcement of law is the need of the hour and compassion and wisdom are  expected more from judges along with other qualities like integrity impartiality and  fairness.Wings are meant for flying not crawling. The wings of Indian citizens  are the rights conferred on them by the constitution [lexi loci] to raise  their voice against unjust and illegal activity in a reasonable manner and  this wings carry weight. This weight is responsibility .The responsibility  convey one message that is live and let live. 

 

Anu Anna Baby

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