With 77.1% of over 500,000 inmates in 2021 awaiting trial, prolonged pre-trial detention is a major issue. The slow judicial process hinders ‘ease of doing business,’ affecting economic growth and investor confidence.

Indian Judiciary is believed to be one of the most powerful judiciaries in the world. The Constitution of India itself gives the framework of the Indian Judiciary. The Indian Judiciary acts as a guardian of the Constitution of India and protects the fundamental rights of the society, thus making it the most important organ for the citizens of India. The Indian Judicial System is one of the oldest legal systems and still follows the features it inherited from the British judicial system. The Indian Judiciary system follows the “common law system” of legal jurisdiction. Common law is the law developed by the judges and it binds the future decisions. The Indian Judiciary also follows the adversarial system.

In India, there is 1 judge for 73000 people which is 7 times more than in the USA. If the present rate of disposal continues, civil cases will never be disposed of and criminal cases will take more than 30 years.

Presently 2.84 crore cases are pending in the subordinate courts, and the backlog clogging the High Courts and Supreme Court (SC) is 43 lakh and 57,987 cases, respectively. This number is increasing day by day which shows the inadequacy of the courts to deal with this matter. Generally, the victims of this the ordinary or poor people. The pendency of the cases also creates a big blockade for international investors and corporations to do business in India.

The Civil Code Procedure, 1908 suggests that not more than three adjournments shall be given in a case, however, Vidhi Center for Legal Policy finds the Delhi High Court gave more than three adjournments in nearly 70% of all delayed cases. Though the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 suggests not more than three adjournments should be given in each case, Vidhi finds the Delhi High Court gave more than three adjournments in nearly 70% of all delayed cases.

There is a tussle between the executive and judiciary over who should be appointing judges rather than how should judges be appointed. There are almost 5000 vacancies in trial courts. This is a serious issue as this is a place where the common man comes in the hope of justice. The pendency of the cases will also go down when the vacancies are filled. Lawyer strikes are one of the major reasons for the pendency of cases.

In India, over two-thirds of India’s roughly 4.2 lakh prisoners are under trial, which is one of the world’s largest number of under-trial prisoners. They are in jail not because they have been found guilty but because they are being prosecuted on charges that are non-bailable or when they are too poor to afford bail. In most of the cases they end spend up more time in jail during the prosecution than the actual term awarded of the crime has been actually committed. Undertrials are not guilty till convicted.

I feel that even though the Indian Judiciary system is one of the strongest among all, it is facing certain challenges that are making it ineffective. Because of these challenges, people are losing their faith in the judicial system and they are reluctant to use this organ to help them overcome their problems. Thus it is of utmost importance that the judiciary overcomes these challenges as fast as they can so that the citizens of India do not hesitate before approaching it. There will be no use of the judiciary if people are not using it to overcome the wrongs that have been done to them. The courts need to ensure that there is no delay of injustice as “justice delayed is justice denied”.
The Indian Judiciary system is independent and the constitution itself separates the judiciary from the executive. It also provides for public interest litigation. Various commissions are also working towards making the Indian judicial system more effective. What we need are court administrators to manage the entire process so that the lawyers and judges have to concentrate only on the cases to which they are assigned. Another solution would be having fast-track courts for cases on sensitive issues such as high-profile cases, rape, and corruption. This can help in providing justice and maintaining the faith of the people in the judiciary. Courts such as property courts, commercial courts, and e-courts can be established for the speedy disposal of cases.

More than half of the cases exceed the three-adjournment limit, contributing to delays.
Courts operate with insufficient staff regardless of the number of cases, affecting efficiency.
Lack of clear timelines and effective management strategies slow down case processing.
Despite potential benefits, technological solutions like e-filing and video conferencing are not fully integrated.

I am of the opinion that the Indian judiciary system has failed to deliver justice expeditiously. This delay in justice has proved to be one of the biggest drawbacks of the judiciary system. Delay in justice implies the time taken to dispose of a case, in excess of the time which should be reasonably consumed by the court to decide the case. Delay of justice creates disillusionment amongst the litigants, it also undermines the capability of the judiciary system. One of the main reasons for the delay of justice is that the institution of cases in the courts far exceeds their disposal. The institution of the case is increasing more rapidly than the institution of the cases. In order to form an effective judiciary, is necessary that the judiciary form an integral part of the society. Judiciary’s interaction with society is a must and it should be both regular and relevant. Several countries involve their citizens in judicial decision-making, however, in India, there is no such setup. The citizens need to actively take part in judicial activities to build an effective judicial system.

Keeping all the aforementioned facts in mind, I think that we must limit adjournments per case to three to avoid unnecessary delays, as currently, more than half of the cases exceed this limit. We must adopt clear timelines for each case, a practice effective in developed countries but lacking in India. Staff shortage should be addressed immediately as courts often have the same number of staff regardless of the increase in case files. e-filing and video conferencing should be fully utilized to expedite cases.
Full enforcement of the National Courts Management Systems policy and the National Framework of Court Excellence should be done to establish performance benchmarks and improve court operations.
Heavy fines for the first adjournment, doubling for subsequent ones should be introduced to discourage unnecessary delays. Social audits of policies like NCMS should be carried out to ensure their effectiveness and enhance judicial efficiency.

I feel very strongly that the Indian Judiciary should come under the ambit of the Right to the Information Act. In the functioning of the Indian judiciary system, substantial issues like the quality of justice and accountability are not known to the citizens properly. There is also a need for transparency in the appointment of the judges. The right to know is a part of freedom of speech and expression, as provided by the Constitution, however, the present system violates this fundamental right. The citizen’s right to know is also an international trend also supported by judicial decisions. Right now we do not have a transparent and foolproof system of appointment of judges. These also lead to delays in filling the vacancies.

Article written by and Editorial credit: State Bureau Chief Himanshu Nauriyal.