Slogans of Modi Sarkar - Did he really mean them?

Shrest Bharat

Sabka Saatha Sabka Vikas

Justice for All, Appeasement of None

Make in India

The above are few of the aspirational slogans promoted by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He ran on the plank of development, eschewed the earlier divisive poll tactics of vote bank politics and enthused us in believing that a Shrest Bharat can indeed be forged ahead, where all can live their lives with their heads held high.

We are yet to see the results.  One qualitative change, where the common man can see the change and benefit is in the Judiciary. The justice delivery system is abysmal. There are 43 lakh cases pending in High Courts and 3 crore cases pending in the lower courts. A common man neither can get justice soon nor does he have resources to sustain this long legal process.

Law makers, Police, Lawyers, Judges are the major players in the justice delivery system. Reforms are needed in all levels. The onus is on the Law makers to frame laws with checks so that they are not misused. The reality is that the laws are framed poorly and all the other players have enriched themselves through this misuse prone laws. The corrections have happened when the law makers perceived loss to their electoral prospects.

TADA was allowed to lapse as Muslims were targeted. POTA was not given a second chance. Recently, IT Sec 66A was struck down by the Supreme Court as Women were getting increasingly affected. The reasons stated were that the law was vague and misuse was rampant.

The same Supreme Court has stated that Sec 498a as "Legal Terror" and asked Government to take corrective actions instead of striking it down like it did for Sec 66A. 498a has been heavily misused. It strikes at the family. In the name of the woman empowerment, this misuse is being tolerated by the politicians. Various law commissions have given recommendations to make changes so that the misuse can be curbed.

It has become a weapon in the hands of wives who want to control their husbands. Lakhs of women have been arrested and harassed due to this law. These women happen to be mothers, sisters of the husbands.

By going through the NCRB statistics, we can conclude that one married man is committing suicide every 8.5 minutes due to these misuse prone, gender biased laws. The politicians show concern for farmer suicides but ignore the husbands who have committed suicide.

Educated, capable men, in their prime, are running around the courts, fighting these false cases. They invariably loose their time, jobs, dignity and endure harassment by the system. It is nation's loss. Men who can contribute to NaMo's "Make In India" vision are forced to fight for their dignity and life. Is Modi Sarkar OK to loose a sizable force?

One aspect of reducing the judicial pendency is to ensure that false cases don't get added to the system. The false case filers should be punished heavily as currently they have no fear for filing a false case.  498a, Rape, DV, SC/ST Atrocities Act, POCSO are rampantly misused.

Modi Sarkar is toying with the idea of making Sec 498a compoundable as per Justice Malimath's recommendation for curbing the misuse. Justice Malimath had also recommended making it bailable but that recommendation is conveniently ignored.

Will making 498a compoundable curb the misuse? Definitely Not! It is compoundable in Andhra Pradesh and the number of cases filed under this section has shot up exponentially after making it compoundable. Check the detailed analysis of the effects of making IPC 498a compoundable.

Modi Sarkar is keen on making Judiciary effective and perfect. It starts with them by scrapping all such misuse prone, gender biased laws.  One who does crime needs to be punished irrespective of gender. We are still following penal code of British. We have imported laws from the west without the checks and are wrecking havoc.

Cops enrich themselves and let the false cases reach the courts. They are the second gatekeepers, who are not doing their duty properly.

Judges should automatically give stringent punishment to the false case accusers. The courts need to be modernized. One only has to go to a court and see for themselves the sorry plight.  The people crowd the entrances and strain to hear the case numbers being called. They have to be there for the whole day. There are no proper toilets in the premises.

Why can't there be good sitting arrangements. A medium output loudspeaker could be used to announce the case being heard. We should maintain computerized records. Information related to the cases should be easily available to the people.

CCTV should be installed in the courts. Judges also have to be accountable for their decisions. We don't want the status quo where the law treats the rich and connected differently and can get away.
Bharat was a nation famous for its Dharma. Alas we are not even the shadow of the land of Chandragupta, Asoka, Vikram, Sri Krishna Deva Raya.

Watch Sunny Deol's empathic request to the Judge in Damini (Tarikh Pe Tarikh), who has conveyed the essence so effectively.

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