Mehak Gupta Grover
We are the children of one of the greatest civilisations that existed on this planet. This is the land where mathematics blossomed, where medicine was so advanced that surgery was performed thousands of years ago, where music emerged as the most deepest in the world, where all faiths live side by side in harmony, where women are scholars, where democracy was born. India sends rockets to Mars, harnesses nuclear technology, boasts of the best doctors and software engineers in the world. Yet, there are certain aspects in which India needs to improve and improve really fast.
One of the most important areas is the Judicial system. The constitution of India states that all have the right to Justice. But, does the ordinary citizen get justice? Does the mother of the child who gets mown down by drunk driver while crossing the road get justice? Does the father whose daughter has been sexually assaulted get justice? Does the farmer oppressed by greedy money- lenders get justice? In India, unless we have money and influence, we do not get justice. But why? India is our country. Why do we need to say such negative things about our motherland? The cry of the ordinary citizen is never heard, unless and until huge hunger strikes are carried out.
Justice and Power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just.
The Indian judicial system is one of the most important pillars of the Indian democracy. But for all its power, it remains erratic, under- staffed and too slow. Our Indian judicial system follows a three-tier system- the lower courts, the state high courts and the supreme court- India’s highest constitutional court. All three systems face certain challenges which needs to be looked into urgently. The core issue being the unacceptable delays in the judicial system is totally sidelined. Corruption in the Judiciary should be ruthlessly dealt with. Judiciary should be protected from political interference. The exasperating delays invite contempt. The number of judges and courts at all levels has to drastically and rapidly increase. The state of our criminal justice system is really alarming. There has been more than 88% rise in pending cases in supreme court since inception in 1950. According to a survey, till January 2017, 2.81 crore cases are pending in district courts alone across the country. There are certain shocking cases whose decision is pending since time immemorial.
The anti Sikh riots shattered thousands of families. Why no decision has been implemented yet? Shouldn’t the justice be delivered long ago? It’s been 34 years! It is a depressing dead end. Even after more than three decades of the riots that followed the assassination of the former Prime Minister, in which almost three thousand people were killed, most of them from Sikh community, justice eludes the victim’s families.
The number of rape cases and kidnappings have increased so much that every parent today feels horrified before sending their kids to schools or activity classes. But why this panic has been created? Because no proper and timely justice is being given in the major cases. Nirbhaya case- the justice got delayed for five long years. Why is so much time required to give justice in such horrendous cases?
Why is one gender dominating the other gender? Why the stronger people oppress the weaker one? Why are people least bothered to even care for the other person? Why people ignore the accident cases rather than taking the person to the hospital? This all has one answer. NO PROPER JUSTICE! Justice has been so delayed that every time it feels like the justice has been denied somehow.
Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working hard to make India the best nation in the world. Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan, Make in India, Digital India, Beti Padhao Beti Bachao, so many initiatives have been take by him and all are going in a positive direction. It is an appeal from all citizens of this proud nation, to improve the decision making power of our judicial system in the most urgent manner.
In words of Martin Luther king Jr.-
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere.”
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