CJI speaks. Need to cut delays to help litigants

Chief Justice of India Justice K.G. Balakrishnan has rightly called for expediting justice by cutting down delays so that the common litigant did not face hardship. In an interview to two newspapers, he said that the country’s justice delivery system is such that litigants try every method available to avoid trial. This is particularly common in the case of the powerful and influential people. A fall-out of this tactic is that the accused invariably take advantage of the delays and get away scot free. Justice Balakrishnan has deplored this tendency on the part of the powerful and the influential to subvert the system and evade justice. They challenge the summons issued to them, appeal against framing of charges and every interim order — from the trial court up to the Supreme Court. Obviously, the trial will be delayed if the accused obtains an interim stay in any court. This is more than evident in the Ruchika molestation case where DGP S.P.S. Rathore has escaped from the clutches of law for years because of his clout in Haryana.

What Justice Balakrishnan has said is absolutely true, but something needs to be done to correct the drawbacks in the system so that justice is expedited and the accused, however high and powerful they may be, are brought to book expeditiously. The people will lose faith in the judiciary if they don’t get justice within a reasonable timeframe. As the CJI has said, the prosecution must be extra careful and vigilant especially in cases where the rich and the powerful are involved as the accused.
Over the years, there is no dearth of recommendations on how to reduce delays and expedite justice. The government has taken note of these which range from filling in vacancies of judges, discouraging pleas for adjournments, reducing vacations, putting in extra work, appointing retired judges and advocates as judges, making best use of information technology for case management and using alternative dispute redressal mechanisms like the Lok Adalats, arbitration and plea bargaining. Since the UPA government is also committed to judicial reforms, the CJI needs to use his good offices in getting various recommendations implemented and speeding up justice.

Source: The Tribune, Chandigarh, India.

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