Recently the Chief Justice Of India T.S Thakur asserted that the Judiciary is facing a crisis of credibility and exhorted the Judges to be conscientious in the discharge of their duties, punctuality, judicial rectitude and in their effort to do the best in what is the need of the hour.
It is clearly an issue as the Chief Justice himself is acknowledging the perception that Indian Judiciary is facing a credibility crisis. How did we end up here? We have a judicial pendency wherein 65 thousand cases are pending in Supreme Court, 45 lakh cases are pending in High courts and 3 crore cases are pending in the lower courts. These figures are as of 2014.
India is one nation where the law is not uniformly applied. One will find that the rich and connected can get away with any crime. Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Teesta Setalvad and Shashi Tharoor are few recent examples who bring out the difference in the treatment. The reason Shashi Tharoor is among these examples is that a common man would have been put in jail and then the investigation would be conducted if his wife happens to commit suicide. The same approach should be offered to common men too.
The Jallikattu ban and Sabarimala observation made by the Supreme Court also show how they are selective. A differential treatment is clearly evident. What else does the common man face?
Law makers, Police, Lawyers, Judges are the players in the justice delivery system. Law makers frame biased, vague laws to further their own interests. They keep telling that all laws are misused. They however added misuse clause in Lokpal Bill as it affected them. They care a damn for the ones who are suffering and harassed due to the misuse.
The pendency could have been curbed if the Law makers had framed proper laws. Why have gender based laws (only for Women) when the offences are gender neutral? Women can abuse the system as there is no deterrent for the ones who misuse the laws. A good number of cases pertain to IPC 498a, DV, Rape, Modesty (IPC 354, IPC 509) and maintenance laws. We also have SC/ST Atrocities Act, POCSO wherein again misuse takes place to a large extent.
Police have figured that they can easily earn due to these biased laws. They have shifted the onus of proving whether the case is genuine or not to the Courts. Due diligence by them would have knocked off many cases from reaching the Courts. In a way it is a boon as the common man gets relief from the extortion due to the Police.
Common man approaches Lawyers for getting sometimes anticipatory bail or for normal case proceedings. They have a field day in the anticipatory bail proceedings. Each lawyer charges differently. The fees collected by them from their clients is totally tax-free as it is given through cash.
Governments have promoted court tourism. The affected man quite often travels long distance to attend the court, taking leave from work (if he is working) and incurring travel expense. To his dismay, he may encounter a strike by the lawyers for some lame reason on that day or that the Judge took vacation that day. He will be given another date. Sunny Deol's dialogue in Damini still holds true.
Wife gets special treatment from the Court even if she doesn't appear for consecutive dates over months. Dates are simply given. Husband on the other hand, if he misses a date, will face consequences.
Judges in High courts treat the accused men poorly. The accused men go to higher courts only for relief as Justice can't be expected (Delayed Justice is No Justice). There is lot of misandry in the courts.
Incapable and inefficient judges are promoted up due to nepotism. Majority of Judges and Lawyers have failed the system. The Judges don't want to be held accountable. They resist audio-video recordings of the court sessions and changes in the way, vacancies are filled up. We need efficient, fair and capable Judges. Why can't we have a Judicial service like we have for IAS, IPS.
- A man who was in Judicial custody for 15 months and later acquitted from rape charges was still made to touch his wife's feet and ask for her forgiveness. How can this be allowed?
- Many times an educated working woman is still awarded high maintenance from her husband, even when she walked out of the marriage.
- A woman may have deserted the husband or may have been involved in an extra marital-affair but maintenance is still awarded to her in many courts. They have no inhibitions in becoming a beggar in front of the court, forgoing their dignity.
- Interim maintenance orders are passed without any basis. By the time, the case concludes and results in lesser maintenance, the money already paid won't be given back to the husband.
- Judges have found to recuse themselves after a considerable time and the case starts afresh as the new Judge begins all over.
The system enables the unscrupulous wife or the woman to unleash the extortion on the husband or the man. The woman or the wife goes scot-free even when they abuse the system. The effect of the extortion is soaked up differently. Men might
- cave in to the extortion and pay up to get out of the legal terror.
- commit suicide unable to bear the torture
- prefer to deal with IPC 302 over the bouquet of cases
- stand up to the legal terror and be tagged as "Adamant Husbands".
The role models for the Men who stand up to the state sponsored extortion are none other than
These men who are at their productive best are running around courts. It is a loss to the nation's GDP. Men and Boys are expendable in the system. Soon the time will come when people will not approach the courts as their credibility will be totally lost.
