The Brave Pedestrian

Judges selected by the collegium for higher judiciary are sometimes worse than useless, according to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi. Rohatgi gave the instance of Justice Cyriac Joseph. As a judge of Delhi High Court, Justice Joseph performed miserably. He reserved more than 100 judgments and went out on being transferred without delivering the judgments, so that all the cases had to be reheard. Later, as Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court, Cyriac Joseph delivered 162 judgments of which 89 "cannot be even called orders as they did not decide rights of the parties. These are merely stating that the petition has become infructuous or allowing the petition to be withdrawn. Of the 162, only two could be called judgments... But both these were authored by the other judge who was part of the bench," the AG said. Justice Cyriac Joseph was very successful at climbing the career ladder. Only one month after being appointed as permanent judge of Kerala High Court in July 19...

Judicial delay in case disposal is NOT an academic issue for ELDERLY CITIZENS, it is an issue of Protection of Life & Liberty. For them, justice delayed means justice denied literally... because they will probably be dead before they get justice! Although elderly people are vulnerable and need judiciary's protection the most, NOBODY IN HIS RIGHT MIND WOULD ADVISE THEM TO GO TO COURT. The chances of getting relief within 8-10 years are small... unless of course they are extrem ely wealthy and can engage the biggest lawyers to expedite matters. Roughly 10 percent of Indians are above 60 years. From bitter experiences, they know that courts are a futile exercise that will drain all their energy and financial resources, and are unlikely to give them anything in return. Our judiciary is consistently failing to protect senior citizens -- people who have completed a lifetime of service to society. How can we remain silent? Like  ·  Comment  ·...

Judiciary drags out cases for decades. Perpetrators, victims and witnesses age, property values multiply, the social, economic and political scenario changes beyond recognition. The judgment -- when it comes -- is not only irrelevant, but also a cruel mockery of all the parties. A delayed judgment does not have a curative or corrective influence on society or individuals. It only inflicts further injury to a wound that time has already healed. Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

India's judiciary has a colonial mindset. It is not democratic, it concentrates power. It's processes are NOT designed to empower free citizens by giving them justice or helping them discover the truth. Whether by design or by default, existing judicial procedures crush the free will of citizens, and subjugate them to the State. Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

Judiciary is like a bus full of monkeys speeding on the highway of India's democracy. Various monkeys are in charge of the accelerator, brakes and steering wheel, and those chief monkeys retire very soon after they assume office. So who is responsible for the overall conduct of this "independent judiciary", and the many casualties that it causes on the highway of democracy? Nobody! No one can be held responsible.

We Indians have the self-confidence to analyze the performance of our elected leaders, and openly criticize them for their failures. But when the subject of Judiciary arises, most of us fall silent. Judicial reforms will not happen until we end this slavish silence. Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

Who is biggest human rights violator in India? Judiciary. Why? Because... With the barest-minimum loincloth of "due process of law", our judiciary deprives thousands of people of their Life & Liberty every month, And it keeps them in jail month after month, without a trial. Corruption in magistrate's courts and sessions court is well know and widespread. People who can't afford to pay BAIL, BRIBES & LAWYERS' FEES stay in judicial custody for months, even years without a tria l. Evidently, everybody is fine with that. Not a squeak out of the Human Rights activists & intellectuals. Not a squeak out of the mass media. And damningly, not a squeak out of the judges of Higher Judiciary, custodians of our Fundamental Rights! If We The Citizens don't raise an outcry on this, SHAME ON US. Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

Our fundamental right to LIFE & LIBERTY takes a backseat to judges RIGHT TO ENJOY HOLIDAYS. Judges all over India are in holiday mood, giving dates for July when court will reopen after summer vacations starting next week. Supreme Court of India has holidays for six months in a year -- a world record. Lower courts work for eight months a year. Give thanks for small mercies  smile emoticon Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

The Judiciary is acting almost like an alien ruler, giving its own STRANGE INTERPRETATION & TWIST to the laws passed by our elected legislature. With inscrutable orders, reliefs, judgments & procedures, judiciary makes our own laws incomprehensible to the Indian citizen and even our elected government. Implementing agencies and citizens alike are paralyzed by uncertainty, thanks to judiciary's unpredictability... because judiciary often upholds and protects obvious wrongdoers who encroach on the rights of the common man, e.g. big corporates and builders. "Independent judiciary" cannot be independent of WE THE PEOPLE. Otherwise, it amounts to a loss of Indian citizens' sovereignty. Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

Judicial delay in case disposal is NOT an academic issue for ELDERLY CITIZENS, it is an issue of Protection of Life & Liberty. For them, justice delayed means justice denied literally... because they will probably be dead before they get justice! Although elderly people are vulnerable and need judiciary's protection the most, NOBODY IN HIS RIGHT MIND WOULD ADVISE THEM TO GO TO COURT. The chances of getting relief within 8-10 years are small... unless of course they are extrem ely wealthy and can engage the biggest lawyers to expedite matters. Roughly 10 percent of Indians are above 60 years. From bitter experiences, they know that courts are a futile exercise that will drain all their energy and financial resources, and are unlikely to give them anything in return. Our judiciary is consistently failing to protect senior citizens -- people who have completed a lifetime of service to society. How can we remain silent? Like  ·  Comment  ·...

A tiny “ruling clique” of Supreme Court judges, led by the Chief Justice of India, currently decides which judge is to be elevated to High Courts and Supreme Court, or made Chief Justice of High Courts or Supreme Court. In making these appointments, this clique is guided by career aspirations of, and friendships with, individual judges rather than what is good for the judiciary as a whole. As a result, Chief Justices of high courts are quite often appointed for a couple of mo nths, before being elevated further. This ruling clique is called the “collegium”. There is no mention of the collegium in the Constitution of India. The collegium system, which has been in use since 1993, relies on two of its own judgments, and one opinion, collectively known as the Three Judges Cases. The court evolved the principle of judicial independence to mean that no other branch of the state -- including the legislature and the executive -- would have any say in the appointment of judges. In July...

People get the government that they deserve. Similarly, they get the judiciary that they deserve. So far, after Independence, we have acted as SUBJECTS of colonial masters when face-to-face with judges. And so we got a colonial sort of judiciary... because judges, like any other human being, usually go by the expectations of people surrounding them. Judges are surrounded by people who bow and scrape and abjectly beg; so what else can you expect from them but tyrannical behavo ur? Now, to change this existing reality, we have to start facing them as CITIZENS, and make them aware that they are public servants. As this sort of behaviour builds up around them, they will be forced to change their behaviour and thinking. The change may happen gradually, over some years. And in the meantime, we can expect scenes like the one shown in this cartoon  smile emoticon Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

Even honest judges are guilty of covering up the sins of their corrupt colleagues, by using the contempt law against outspoken citizens and media-persons. Bribery among judges is an "open secret" Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

Knowledgeable court insiders understand that the merits of your case are of little importance. Their first question is, "Who is appearing for you?" Their second question is, "You are before which bench?" Third question: "Who is appearing for the other side?" Based on your replies to these questions, they sometimes shake their head in sympathy for you. "No chance, you will be dismissed," they say sadly, without even looking at your prayers, interim reliefs sought and case laws cited. Surprisingly, their predictions are quite accurate. Why is this so? Let us understand. Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

The judiciary as an institution is only as good as its judges... and judges, being human, can easily be offered temptations by government. Judges nearing retirement age hear PILs against government, knowing that after retiring, they may be given lucrative & prestigious jobs by government. So they openly favour government and politicians, and frown at public interest litigants and activist citizens. Judicial independence can exist under ideal conditions... but conditions in India are far from ideal. Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

Is Supreme Court a PART-TIME GUARDIAN of our fundamental rights? Individuals can enjoy leaves, including study leave, casual leave and sick-leave for much more than six months... but can the ENTIRE ORGAN OF GOVERNANCE remain closed for weeks or months? (And please, don't anybody mention vacation judges, who provide only a loincloth of judicial service!) Evidently, it can! And according to the hon'ble judges, India is hale and hearty despite such institutionalized absenteeism. So, let the whole country follow the noble example of our judges, and accordingly, let the government sanction SIX WEEK SUMMER VACATIONS FOR: 1) Police 2) Central & State Government, including Prime Minister, Chief Minister, entire cabinet and entire secretariat. 3) Entire Army, Navy, Air Force and Border Security Force. Let them coordinate the dates to match with summer vacations for the armed forces of Pakistan, China and Bangladesh across the borders. No surprise invasions and ter...

Every few days, the media reports a big judgment that makes it look like judiciary is a defender of democracy and upholder of human rights. But what goes unreported is that every single day, lakhs of undertrials and litigants, and their families, suffer needless pain, humiliation, disappointment, anxiety and mind-numbing expenditure. And exploitation by lawyers. These are the victims of judiciary. Nobody is interested in their story of unending misery. Because there is nothin g grand, colourful or decisive to report -- just human lives rendered meaningless in shades of muddy gray. For these victims of judiciary, media stories about grand judgments are surely like salt rubbed into their wounds. Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

Bhopal gas tragedy is a blatant example of how judiciary behaves when the interests of big business clashes with those of the common man. Over 5 lakh persons were exposed to the crippling gas Methyl Iso Cyanate (MIC) on the night of 2-3 December, 1984. 3,787 died, 3,900 were severely and permanently disabled. 26 years later, in June 2010, seven former employees of UCIL (including Keshub Mahindra, non-executive chairman) were convicted of causing death by negligence. Each was  sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined of Rs. one lakh. All were released on bail shortly after the verdict. BOTTOMLINE: NOT EVEN ONE PERSON RESPONSIBLE HAS BEEN JAILED YET, 30 years after the world's worst industrial disaster. Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

If pendency were under control and appellants got a fair hearing, Supreme Court's 6-week summer vacations could possibly have been justified. But such is emphatically not the case. Judges dismiss a majority of the appeals immediately, not even giving a few second to appellants -- many of whom have travelled across the country, and have suffered great financial difficulties to come this far. Many judges contemptuously THROW THE APPELLANT'S FILES on the floor after a couple of  seconds of perfunctory hearing, showing callous disregard for the litigants and the appeal process! Despite such hurried methods, the queue of pending cases before SC is growing longer every year. And the Supreme Court judges have the sheer gall to go on lengthy vacations, en masse! Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

If our new Prime Minister is really a common man at heart, he should take initiatives to ensure that judiciary becomes accessible to the common man. Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share