India’s judicial system is crying out for reform and the judges are the obstacles.
The common Indian is a god-fearing and court-fearing person. Even the most powerful politicians are made to kneel before gods and the Gandhari of the Indian Justice system alike. Any criticism against either is done behind closed doors and whispered conspiratorially. Our judiciary (much like religion) is considered to be a (terrifying) shadow that follows our legislature everywhere and keeps it in check.
The confidence that people have in the judiciary seems to be extremely high — until they themselves have to go to court and ask for justice. Step into a chaotic court and this confidence in the country’s justice system simply erodes. The process is broken, long and expensive. Judges tend to give strange judgments like this recent one by the Supreme Court that said “a sex worker cannot file a case alleging rape if her customers refused to pay her”. Or this one where it upheld the constitutional validity of criminal defamation.
I’m just going to come out and say it: our judicial system is out of touch with reality. It is time to seriously think of reform. But the real tragedy is that any attempt to do so is being thwarted by the judiciary itself.
Way back in August 2014, in the wee little days of the Narendra Modi government, a bill was brought in that would dramatically change the ways our judges are appointed. It was called the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) and was one of the first items on the legislative agenda of this government. It was a small attempt to reform our judicial system and change it for the better. But then, in October 2015, the judiciary stepped in and killed it. Full story...
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The common Indian is a god-fearing and court-fearing person. Even the most powerful politicians are made to kneel before gods and the Gandhari of the Indian Justice system alike. Any criticism against either is done behind closed doors and whispered conspiratorially. Our judiciary (much like religion) is considered to be a (terrifying) shadow that follows our legislature everywhere and keeps it in check.
The confidence that people have in the judiciary seems to be extremely high — until they themselves have to go to court and ask for justice. Step into a chaotic court and this confidence in the country’s justice system simply erodes. The process is broken, long and expensive. Judges tend to give strange judgments like this recent one by the Supreme Court that said “a sex worker cannot file a case alleging rape if her customers refused to pay her”. Or this one where it upheld the constitutional validity of criminal defamation.
I’m just going to come out and say it: our judicial system is out of touch with reality. It is time to seriously think of reform. But the real tragedy is that any attempt to do so is being thwarted by the judiciary itself.
Way back in August 2014, in the wee little days of the Narendra Modi government, a bill was brought in that would dramatically change the ways our judges are appointed. It was called the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) and was one of the first items on the legislative agenda of this government. It was a small attempt to reform our judicial system and change it for the better. But then, in October 2015, the judiciary stepped in and killed it. Full story...
Related posts:
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