The Indian judiciary faces significant challenges including a large backlog of over 3 crore pending cases. With only 13 judges per 10 lakh citizens, far below international standards, the judicial system is overwhelmed. While alternative dispute resolution and efforts by judges have reduced the backlog somewhat, delays of 15 years for civil cases undermine justice. Recommendations to address the issues include increasing judges, prioritizing cases, implementing time bounds, developing infrastructure and legal training, implementing information technology for transparency, and ensuring adequate budgets. Successful implementation of these recommendations could help clear a large portion of the backlog and improve the functioning of the Indian judicial system.

2. GLANCE AT JUDICIARY SYSTEM OF INDIA . . .
•Today The Indian Judiciary Is One Of The Most Powerful Judiciary In The World, Because There
Is A Power Of Judicial Review. India Has Just 13 Judges For Every 10 Lakhs People As Against 35-
40 In Other Developing Nations And 50 In A Developed Country.
•Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) Mechanism In The Country Has Worked Wonders To Bring
Down The Backlog Of Cases.
•19,000 Judges, Including 18,000 In Trial Courts, Are Dealing With A Pendency Of 3 Crore Cases,
Resulting In A Civil Case Lasting For Nearly 15 Years And Giving Credence To The Adage "Justice
Delayed Is Justice Denied“.The Union Government Spends Less Than 1% Of Its Planned
Expenditure On The Judiciary.

3. STILL. . .
•National Crime Records Bureau Indicated That 22,172 Women Reported Rape In 2010 (According To A
Report On The Web Site Of The U.N. High Commissioner For Refugees). A Leading Newspaper, The Hindu,
Put The Figures Slightly Lower, Noting That The Number Of Rape Reports Was Rising But The Number Of
Convictions Declining.
• In 2011, Over 2 Crore Cases Were Filed In The Judicial System, And 2.04 Crore Cases Were Disposed Off,
i.e. Every Judge Disposed Off 1,372 Matters In A Span Of 12 Months And All Of Them Worked To Reduce The
Pendency From 3.20 Crore Cases To 3.136 Crore, A Reduction Of Over 6 Lakhs.
•The Committee On Empowerment Of Women In Its Report On 'Victims Of Sexual Abuse And Trafficking
And Their Rehabilitation' Noted That India Has 18,000 Positions Of Judges At The Subordinate Judiciary
Level But 3,000 Are Yet To Be Filled. There Is About 13 Judges For Every 1 Million Population. In The High
Courts, There Are 895 Permanent Judges, Whereas The Actual Strength Is Less Than 700.
•Department Of Justice Informed The Panel That Of The 18,000 Positions Of Judges, About 15,000 Are
Presiding The Courts And There Is A Proposal To Add Another 15,000 Positions In The Next 5 Years Which
Will Take The Number To 30,000.But The Committee Was Of The View That Even That Augmentation Of
Resources Will Be Inadequate. It Said, "Even After Increasing The Strength Of Judges, The Judge-population
Ratio In The Country Would Be Far Less Than The Ratio In Other Developed/Developing Countries.“
•For Instance, If India's Population Is About 1.5 Billion, That Means If Some 15 Crore Cases May Be Filed Into
The Judicial System Each Year By Them, Then To Achieve A Ratio Of 50 Judges Per Million Population, At 1.5
Billion, India Will Need To Have 75,000 Judges.

4. CAUSES LEADING TO FAILURE. . .
• Population Has Gone Up, Crimes Have Gone Up And Unemployment,
So Many Factors Are There Which Have Led To Increase In The Cases
Piling Up In The Courts. Lax Governance & Corruption As Well As the
Incompetent Police Are Also Part Of The Problem.
•The Problem Of Punctuality Of Judicial Officers In Subordinate Judiciary
Is A Matter Of Concern. Extra-judicial Duties Performed By The Judges,
Including The Supervision Of Local Body Elections, Referendums And
General Elections, Prevented Them From Focusing On Processing The
Backlog Of Cases.
•All The Stakeholders Are Of Unanimous View That The Main Reason For Delay In Disposition Of The Cases
Is Indiscriminate Adjournments And Extension At All Stages Of The trial In Both Civil As Well As Criminal
Courts.
•As India's Literacy Rate And Per Capita Income Increases, The Number Of New Cases Filed Per 1000
Population Is Likely To Increase From The Current Rate Of About 15 (Up From Around Three Cases Per
Thousand Some Three Decades Ago) To About 75 Cases In The Next 3 Decades.

5. JUSTICE DELAYED. . .
•In Civil Proceedings, Delays Mean Higher Costs, Adverse Impacts On
The Enjoyment Of Rights And A Sense Of Frustration And Anxiety
Due To The Uncertainty Of The Outcome Of The Case.
•Delays May Also Result In Cases Being Time barred, Are Likely To
Make Evidence More Difficult To Obtain And/Or Less Reliable To Use
And Can Undermine Public Confidence In The System Of Justice As A
Whole.
•Delays Produce Invisible And Pernicious Though Not Necessarily Unintended Effects By Sending
A Two Fold Message:
1. To Torture Survivors That It Is Not Worthwhile Pursuing Cases, Thereby Acting As A Powerful
Inhibitor To Justice.
2. To Those Responsible For Torture That They Do Not Have To Fear Adverse Repercussions.
•Delays Are Detrimental To Those Seeking Justice And The System Of
Justice As A Whole. For Those Seeking Justice, Delays Can Mean
Prolonged Detention And Drawn Out Criminal Trials.
•This Can Jeopardise The Peaceful Resolution Of Disputes And Make People Seek Justice On Their
Own Terms, And Can Lead To Violence.

6. CRIME AT ITS WORST. . .
Baby Falak Trafficking Case-
• Arrested,but Justice Awaited
IPS Officer Killed By Mining Mafia In Madhya Pradesh-
• Arrested,but Justice Awaited
Ponty Chadha Shootout-
• Delhi court has granted two months interim bail to an accused.
• The prosecution said Ponty and Namdhari had conspired to take over the farmhouse from
the possession of Hardeep.

7. MELIORISM - combat pending cases mechanisms. . .
•Proper Disbursal Of Budget. A Budget and Planning System.
•Provision Of Infrastructure As Per The Need Of Hour. A National Framework
Committee For Court Infrastructure.
•Increasing The Number Of Judges, And Fill Vacant Positions Of Judicial Officers.
Human Resource Development System For Systematic Planning And Training.
•Prioritizing And Division Of Cases. National System Of Judicial/Crimes Records And
Statistics.
•Time Bounding Of Cases.
•A Time Limit Should Be Fixed For The Disposal Of Each Category Of Case And The
Implementation Of The Scheme Must Be Ensured.
•Civil Cases Must Be Disposed Off Within 8 Months, Rent Cases Within 5 Months, And
Family Cases Within 4 Months.
•Supreme Court Should Timely Check The Working Of These ‘Special Courts’. Judicial
Monitering System – Its In Judiciary.

8. •Creating A Software With All Relevant Case Information Which Will Act As Self
Propelling Tool Of Accountability At All Levels.
•Due To Access To Information, The Whole Process Can Be Made Transparent And Self
Governing. This Info Will Not Only Help The Accused And Victim To Have Updated
Information On Their Cases But Also Citizens Being Aware Of The Progress Of The
Case. Case Information Is Known To Everybody And Statistics Are Updated On Daily
Basis.
• Cases In Scrutiny Can Be Carefully Examined For Objections And Delays.
• Case Filed/Instituted In A Day Should Be Known To All As Web Site Will Be Updated.
Cases Should Be Indexed In Unique Order By A System So That They Are Accessible
Anywhere.
•Preparation Of Cause List Has Just Become A 10-15 Minutes Routine Job, As It Is Only
A Click Away. It Is Mostly Marked At The Time Of Proceedings For Future Fixation.
Finalized Cause List Can Be Printed Out Along With The Internet Which Will Be
Updated For Counsels So That They Can Easily Access The Required Information.
TECHNOLOGY- JUDICIARY ‘S SAVIOUR . . . !

9. AUGMENTING RECOMMENDATIONS. . .
•Concept Of Jail Adalats : Jail Adalats Are Also A Form Of Plea-bargaining Where Petty Offenders Plead
Guilty In Exchange Of Reduced Sentences. The Practice Of Jail Adalats Is Based On The Assumption That
Innocent Prisoners Will Not Plead Guilty. These Adalats Would Be Extremely Unfair And Unjust, If They
Were To Become A Mechanism To Induce Innocent Prisoners Into Pleading Guilty, Just To Avoid Long
Periods Of Incarceration While Awaiting Trial.
•Segregating Undertrial Prisoners From Those Who Have Already Been Convicted.
•Expanding The Bail opportunities For Defendants Charged With Less Serious Crimes.
•Maintaining The Continuity Of Criminal Cases From One Judge To Another When The Presiding Judge Is
Transferred Mid-case (As Is Common In A Civil Service-based Judicial System) To A Different Court.
•Promoting Greater Integrity By The Police While Concurrently Encouraging The Police To Accelerate The
Investigation Process So That Cases Do Not Languish And Evidence Is Not Neglected From Being Collected.
•Discontinuing The Frequent Judicial Practice Of Granting The Government.
• Reality Check- POLICE: A Dedicated Investigating Agency Devoid Of Other Duties And Independent Of
Executive Interference.
•Commit A Sufficient Fixed Amount Of Finances In The Annual Budgets Set Aside For The effective
Implementation Of Said Measures And To Keep A Check On The Process.

10. IMPACT OF IMPLICATION. . .
• Performance Standards For Indian Courts, Addressing Issues Of Quality, Responsiveness And
Timeliness Will Increase.
• Incorporation Of It Will Enhance User Friendliness Of The Judicial System.
• Quality, Timeliness And Efficiency Of The Judicial System Across Courts, Districts/States,
Types Of Cases, Stages Of Cases, Costs Of Adjudication, Time Lines Of Cases, Productivity
And Efficiency Of Courts, Use Of Budgets And Financial Resources – Will Be Monitored.
• If Followed So,the 25 Judges Assigned Will Be Able To Clear 70% Of The Backlog Within 32
Months &Time On Processing The Backlog Of Cases. (In Karachi East In Thirteen Months,
40% Of The Backlog Was Cleared. The Number Of Pending Cases Was Reduced From 12,961
To 10,389 As On 1 January 2005.)
• Global And National Experience Shows That The Number Of New Cases Filed Into A
Judiciary System Increases With Literacy And Economic Wealth.
• For Example ,Kerala With A Literacy Rate Of Over 90% Has Some 28 Cases Per 1000
Population As Against Some 4 Cases Per Thousand Population In Jharkand Which Has A
Literacy Rate Of Some 53%.
• This Increase In India’s Literacy Rate And Per Capita Income Will Increase The Number Of
New Cases Filed Per 1000 Population From 15 To 75 In Next 3 Decades. To Achieve A Ratio
Of 50 Judges Per Million Population At 1.5 Billion(in Coming 3 Decades), India Will Need
75000 Judges.

11. •There Is One Law For All, Namely, The Law Which Governs All Laws-The Law Of Our Creator-The Law Of
Humanity, Justice, Equity‐ The Law Of Nature And Of Nations.
•The Indian Judiciary Today Is Alive To The Shortcomings And ill Facing It, And In Order To Keep Pace With
Time And Changed Scenario, The Implementation Of The Recommendations Is Necessitated.
•It Is No Exaggeration To Say That The Lawyers Have Been At The Forefront In Every Democratic, Legal And
Constitutional Movement. The Offenders Could Also Have Done What They Did To Draw The Attention Of
Society To The Wounds Festering In Their Own Hearts. So, Justice Needs To Take Into Account Not Only The
Culpability Of The Guilty But Also His Suffering.
•Justice Is Not A Bargain Chip , It Is A Right Of The People, The Attempt Of Whose Retrieval Shouldn’t Have
Occurred In The First Place. Justice Should Be Ensured To All , So When One Soul Suffers, Those Million Eyes
Will Not Have To Shed Tears, Who Went Through The Same. And For A Country Which The Biggest
democracy, That Which Belongs To The People Should Be Rendered, For They Won’t Question , Then , Our
Very Existence.
•Therefore The Objective Of Justice, In My Honest Opinion, Should Be To Heal The Wounds Created By
Mindless Acts Of A Handful Of People Acting On An Irrational Philosophy/Ideology.
•No Movement Can Achieve Its Objectives Without The Support, Confidence And Aspirations Of The
Masses.
•The Biggest Triumph Of Evil Is For Good Men To Do Nothing, So Lets Not Just Be The Viewer…. Lets Perform
…. And Lets Bring Victory HOME!!!
DENOUEMENT. . .