ACCELERATING JUSTICE: UNPACKING INDIA’S DRAFT MEDIATION BILL
Justice delayed is justice denied’ is a well-known legal maxim. As far as the Indian judicial system is concerned, redress is often delayed due to the judiciaries’ chronic inability to process cases in a timely and orderly fashion.
According to data from the National Judicial Data Grid and the Supreme Court, over 45 million cases are currently pending across all courts in India (district and subordinate courts, various high courts and the Supreme Court) – a judicial backlog that Markandey Katju, former Supreme Court judge, has estimated would take around 360 years to clear (if no new cases are filed).
“India has one of the largest judicial backlogs in the world,” affirms Hiro N. Aragaki, professor of law at Loyola Law School. “There are reports of cases lasting more than 20 years and of litigants dying of old age before receiving a final judgment.”
Why then is the Indian system of justice on such a colossal slow track? One of the key contributory factors, according to Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, chief justice of India, is an “Indian phenomenon called luxurious litigation – a specific type of litigation wherein parties with resources attempt to frustrate the judicial process and delay it by filing numerous proceedings across the judicial system”.
Another factor that contributes to delays in courts is the number of vacancies that currently exist. According to the Department of Justice, as of November 2021, 400 judges’ positions were vacant across the 25 high courts, with the posts of 5000 judges unoccupied in the lower judiciary. Inadequate infrastructure has also been cited as a source of delay, particularly in subordinate courts, with many lacking basic facilities for judges, court staff and litigants.
Apr-Jun 2022 issue
Fraser Tennant