Indian Railways are struggling
with nearly 30% vacancies in the cadre of track maintainers. We are also short
of 20% Loco Drivers over the sanctioned strength. Indeed, we are short of
manpower by the given yardsticks in almost all areas. But, we run ALL the
trains with 90% punctuality, we carry all the goods cheaper than any other mode
and our safety is improving every day. We add new trains every year, run
specials during festivals and holidays without additional resources. Our online
ticketing is rated to be the best in the world. Our stations and trains are
cleaner than ever, quality of food is improving and so is the passenger satisfaction
across the country. True, we lack resources for
expanding our network, but we do our assigned job well and without complaining.
Yet, we find that the media,
political parties and public at large are ready to accept backlog of cases in
our courts on account of vacancies! Surely, you do not subscribe to that view. Vacancies
can never be zero. I read in the newspapers, after the NJAC judgement, that the
real problem of the judiciary is vacancies – 30% of late. But the pendency is
older than this recent spurt in vacancies, which has worsened due to the NJAC
issue. I have learnt that twenty-four High Courts together sit on a pile of
some forty-five lakh pending cases. Appeals in criminal cases against
conviction are waiting to be heard for as long as thirty years, more than the
maximum sentence in the cases. I am certain all this cannot be explained away
by vacancies alone. The only way to overcome this problem is that those, who
are in the saddle, work a little harder to compensate for the vacancies. All of
us do that in government, public sector or private enterprises. We work longer
hours till late evening, on weekends, forego personal leave and certainly do
not go on summer vacations. Even Secretaries to the Government of India are now
required to punch-in their attendance sharp at nine AM every day. Surely,
working longer hours is not anathema to you, My Lordships!
I often get judgements and
awards from courts for compliance within two months, one month, or even a
fortnight. I have no option but to burn the midnight oil and fulfil the orders
in the judgement. How I wish I could one day beseech or request, though certainly
not order Your Lordships, to deliver a judgement in two weeks since an
important developmental project is held up, a contract is getting annulled or an
international agreement is at stake! But, that would be a contempt of court, I
guess. Surely, the judiciary is entitled to its independence and autonomy,
surely it can rightfully claim non-interference and neutrality, but it ought to
know that like other organs of state, the legislature and the executive, the
judiciary too is paid out of taxes and that it is ultimately answerable to the
paymaster, the common citizen of the country. The common person is increasingly
getting restless. She wants good governance, she wants delivery of goods and
services and above all she wants a just society. And, she wants them quick.
Judiciary is answerable to her for its own share of deliveries.
How does the common citizen
force change in governance? He votes. He votes a party out and brings in a new
government. He gets the opportunity to do so every five years. Political
parties, after having fooled the masses and after their repeated failures have
realised that the public means business. They have yielded to a change in
discourse from caste, religion and freebies to development and performance. How
does a common person pull up the executive? How does she seek relief from exploitation
and unfairness? She goes to a court of law. Leave aside the delays for a
moment, she still hopes for justice, solace and compensation. What is important
is that she has a door, which she can knock. But, were does she go, when the
same door is closed to her for thirty years in her face? Whom does she implore,
when the very institution she implores, has queued up lakhs of relief seekers
ahead of her?
This frustration with the
judiciary has led to abject hopelessness in the masses and ridicule of the
process of law. Undertrials and appellants spend the best years of their lives
in incarceration, people resort to coercion and murder for solving land and
property disputes and an occasional dejected one commits suicide. We cannot
have a referendum for judicial reforms. Indeed, we have never had any referendum
in the country on any issue. The only exercise closest to a referendum is the General
Election. Nearly two decades of deliberations in civil society, enlightened discussions,
opinions of retired legal luminaries the likes of Your Honour, administrative reports
and Parliamentary debates resulted in the first ever legislation, a
Constitutional Amendment, that was passed unanimously and also ratified by
twenty States. We cannot have a louder voice of the people of India than this. Yet
it has not been heeded! Yes, Your Honour! We have heard your voice asserting
judicial independence and autonomy. But, have you heard ours?
Any organisation works with hierarchies,
which are arranged in the fashion of a pyramid. The senior levels have fewer
positions than the lower ones. Indeed, the entire supervision and management
structure follows this dictum. Yet we have a State in the country, which has an
inverted pyramid in the judiciary. There are one hundred sixty High Court
Judges and just seventy-five district Judges! Yet, this High Court has the
highest number of cases pending within its portals.
All organs of the State have undergone
reforms and infusion of technology. Most departments of the government and companies
in the private sector have become leaner as a result. The judiciary too has had
its share of modernisation and IT embrace. But, the courts work at the same
pace, actually slower than ever. One of the High Courts of the country has, on
the 17th October, invited bids for supply of iPhone6S for use by the
Hon’ble Judges. This model of phone was launched in September, i.e. just a
month ago. We do not mind Our Lordships owning the latest gadget in the world
costing sixty thousand Rupees each, not even if the poor people of India pay
for it. But, we want a return on that investment. Please give us that.
We have all heard Justice Ruma
Pal, who candidly showed the mirror to the judiciary by enumerating its seven
sins – turning a blind eye to a colleague’s indiscretion, hypocrisy, secrecy in
appointment of judges, plagiarism and prolixity, verbose judgements, personal
arrogance, professional arrogance and nepotism.* We have all heard you, Your
Lordships! You want total independence and autonomy. We agree with that too.
You also said that you will improve the system from within. We know from
experience that insulated systems are the most difficult to change and often a
change promised from within is more of a chimera than an action plan. Yet we
trust you for this time once again. But, remember, the outcome of the reforms
will be judged by the people of India and not by the government or the legislature.
Next time, the call for change may not take the legislative route.
---ooo---
Views of the lone dissenting judge (out of a bench of five) , Justice Chelameswar can be seen here:
http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/NJAC-Verdict-Excerpts-of-Justice-Chelameswars-Opinion-Against-SC-Judgement/2015/10/19/article3087047.ece
'Indian democracy cannot be a tyranny of the unelected': Arun Jaitley's 'alternative view' on NJAC verdict:
http://m.firstpost.com/politics/indian-democracy-cannot-be-a-tyranny-of-the-unelected-arun-jaitleys-alternative-view-on-the-njac-verdict-2473218.html
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/candid-corner/usurping-parliaments-power-instead-of-aborting-njac-supreme-court-should-have-given-it-a-fair-chance-to-succeed/
