Pairokar

Former President of India K.R. Narayanan once famously said ‘Courts in India are like casinos’. Satyamev Jayate (truth prevails), is emblazoned in all courts across the country but justice is often denied to most of the litigants. One cannot say it for certain that he or she would get the justice despite the law and facts in his/her favour.   Illustrious writer Charles Dickens wrote a famous novel ‘Bleak House’, which deals with a well-known fictional case ‘Jarndyce and Jarndyce’. In the case of family dispute two members approach the court which took so much time that by the time the judgment came, both of them not only became old but pauper as well.  More or less the same story is still found in India where the cases linger on, from one court to other, for years nay, decades together. By the time the justice is delivered it loses all relevance for the parties. This trite sentence of ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ is being heard in India for decades. Surprisi...

Mondays and Fridays are the miscellaneous days in the Supreme Court of India. Court Rooms get so crowded that it often becomes difficult to reach in the front row when the case is called for hearing. One cannot move in the lobbies without grazing others. Nearly one thousand cases, mainly Special Leave Petitions, are taken up on each Monday and Friday and more than 90% of them are dismissed in limine. Hardly in10% cases notices are issued. One who has been practicing in the Supreme Court will say, without batting even eye lid, that it has literally been converted into to a Court of Appeal. Most of the SLPs are dismissed/admitted in less than two minutes of hearing. Some say that they are not decided but butchered. There is not denying that with the rising number of cases the Supreme Court judges are overburdened. It does not mean that the people should be discouraged from filing the new cases. On the other hand, it is a good sign that people are becoming aware of getting their right...