The fact is: there are more than 50 million cases pending in Indian courts, many pending for more than three or four decades.
Three recent events related to the Supreme Court of India have hit the headlines. First, it was the suo moto hearing on the alleged rape and murder of a resident doctor at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata. The last word on the matter is yet to come from the bench headed by the Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud. The second event too is related to the Chief Justice. Some days ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a video on X that shows him praying to Hindu deity Ganesha at the official residence of the Chief Justice with his family. The third is observations made by a Supreme Court judge while granting bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the alleged excise policy scam.
Given the state of polarised discourse in our polity and society, all three events have triggered social media outrage and catfights. Let’s take the first event first. There is a section that is furious with Chief Justice Chandrachud for asking the junior doctors sitting on strike to go back to work or face consequences. This cohort thinks the judge has caved in to bullying tactics and pressure of lawyer Kapil Sibal, who is representing the TMC government in West Bengal led by Mamata Banerjee. This cohort feels that the judge has also been afflicted by a virus called “secularism” and hence gives a free pass to secular leaders like Mamata Banerjee.
The second event triggered even more polarised social media discourse. Prominent lawyer Indira Jaisingh, who can be safely described as a committed secular, came down on Justice Chandrachud with a ton of bricks. She went on to publicly pronounce that she has lost confidence in the ability of the Supreme Court to be fair and independent. Politicians belonging to the I.N.D.I Alliance also criticised the post and accused the NDA government and the Supreme Court with colluding to subvert the Indian Constitution. How a publicly posted video of a Prime Minister and a Chief Justice praying to a Hindu deity on an auspicious day subverts the Constitution is something only the truly secular can understand. But, contrary to wails about the government throttling free speech, India is still a democracy and folks can abuse the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice.
The third event too was theatre in full glory. The Supreme Court has granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal albeit with stiff conditions that include not attending office or signing files as a constitutional right and duty. The top court observed that putting someone in jail for a prolonged period of time when trials take long is both unfair and unjust.
One judge even questioned the motives of the Central Bureau of Investigation that had arrested Kejriwal soon after he obtained bail for an Enforcement Directorate case. In all, apart from a 20-odd days’ breather called interim bail to campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Kejriwal has been behind bars for almost six months. His arrest and stubborn refusal to resign as Chief Minister have created a unique never before situation in Indian democracy. He is a sitting Chief Minister who has so far been denied his right to sign any files or take any policy decisions as Chief Minister. His critics call this a travesty of democracy and public morality by a man who rode the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption movement in 2011 and 2012 to become a political leader. His supporters insist he is correct in not resigning since the charges against him have been concocted by the BJP.
Either ways: there is one thing that the authors are sure of: it is indeed unfair and unjust to incarcerate a person for indefinite periods of time pending trial. To that extent, it was high time Kejriwal was granted bail. But that also prompts the authors to once again raise the unpalatable and uncomfortable truth: the virtual collapse of the judicial system in India is the real blot on Indian democracy and the root cause of its crisis of credibility. Take Arvind Kejriwal: many years ago, fast track courts were set up expedite trials that involve MPs, MLAs and some other high office holders. On paper, the fast track courts exist. But only on paper. It could still be years, or even more than a decade, before the trial in his case is completed. That can only be a mockery of justice, due process and even democracy.
But we Indians have become so used to a dysfunctional judiciary that even those who profess to believe in the rule of law are now supporting questionable actions like “bulldozer justice” and mob lynching. One of the crucial points that has emerged in the movement for justice for the alleged Kolkata rape and murder victim Abhaya is a lack of faith and trust that young citizens of West Bengal are displaying in Indian judiciary. The phenomenon is not confined West Bengal but is a pan Indian phenomenon.
The authors think Indians have every right to be upset with the manner in which Indian judiciary dispenses justice. For more than 30 years, the authors have heard Supreme Court and High Court judges moan and complain about ever growing “backlogs” in Indian courts. Virtually every Chief Justice makes pious declarations about working with the State to solve this deepening crisis. Yet, the crisis keeps deepening and is actually almost out of control now, like Frankenstein’s monster.
The fact is: there are more than 50 million cases pending in Indian courts, many pending for more than three or four decades. It is only recently that a court in Delhi ordered that charges of being involved in murder be filed against Jagdish Tytler.
This order comes nearly 40 years after the gruesome massacre of Sikhs by Congress workers in the wake of the assassination of Indira Gandhi in October 1984. Is that justice by any definition?
Another brutal fact: it will be more than 350 years for Indian courts to clear the backlog of all cases. How do you expect ordinary Indians to repose faith in Indian judiciary?
Yashwant Deshmukh is Founder & Editor in Chief of CVoter Foundation and Sutanu Guru is Executive Director.