I was asked my opinion on today's Supreme Court verdict declaring N J A C (Constitutional Amendment Act) unconstitutional.
So far as my own opinion is concerned, it matters tweedledum or
tweedledee whether we have the Collegium system or #NJAC, as I believe that the
Indian judiciary is beyond redemption. What kind of a judiciary is it which often takes 20-30 years to finally decide
a case(including appeal, revision, writ petition etc.)?
There are over 32 million cases pending in the Courts of India and it is estimated that even if no new case is filed it will take 360 years to clear the backlog. People who for some reason get involved in a litigation are weeping and crying because date after date is given but the case is not taken up for hearing.
Is it a judiciary or a joke?
I may only mention some facts about my parent High Court at Allahabad.
1. Criminal appeals filed in the High Court in 1985 are now coming up for hearing, that is, after 30 years. Similar is the position of civil appeals.Is this a High Court or a joke ?
There are over 32 million cases pending in the Courts of India and it is estimated that even if no new case is filed it will take 360 years to clear the backlog. People who for some reason get involved in a litigation are weeping and crying because date after date is given but the case is not taken up for hearing.
Is it a judiciary or a joke?
I may only mention some facts about my parent High Court at Allahabad.
1. Criminal appeals filed in the High Court in 1985 are now coming up for hearing, that is, after 30 years. Similar is the position of civil appeals.Is this a High Court or a joke ?
2. The list of most benches is hardly
touched, and only fresh matters taken up. This means that if on the first
hearing of a case it is adjourned for some reason ( e.g. a counter affidavit is
called for by the Court ) the case will thereafter never come up for hearing
unless a heavy bribe, often of thousands of rupees, is paid in the registry to
the concerned official. And even then, the case is very unlikely to be heard as
in most benches the list of the court is rarely touched.
3. There is a senior judge who presides over a bench hearing writ petitions. He reportedly disposes off 150 cases or more a day, but without opening the file, and by simply saying, with half closed eyes " Suit, suit " ( i.e. go and file a suit, which in crude language means go to hell, because sending someone to a suit is like sending him to hell, as it will now make him run from pillar to post for 20-30 years or more before the suit and its appeals are finally disposed off )
4. There is a Judge who comes to Court at 11.30 or 12 (the Allahabad High Court sits at 10 a.m.), dismisses all listing applications ( i.e. applications praying that some pending case be listed ), and rises whenever he likes.
5. If the hearing of a bail application is adjourned for some reason ( e.g. the govt. counsel wants to file a reply ) one never knows when the bail application will be listed again.In my opinion, it matter little whether we have a Collegium system or the NJAC because the Indian Judiciary is in my opinion beyond redemption.
Similar is the position in many other High Courts.
Apart from the above there is now massive corruption even in the higher Judiciary. While many judges are upright, many others (which may be 50% or even more) are not. The subordinate judiciary is said to be 75% or more corrupt.
Mr. Shanti Bhushan, a very senior lawyer of the Supreme Court and former Union Law Minister filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court a few years back stating that half of the previous 16 CJIs have been corrupt, and he could not certify the integrity of 2 more of them. Even after that affidavit was filed many Chief Justices of India who retired had serious allegations of corruption against them, and there are serious allegations of corruption against the present CJI Dattu. Many of these CJIs, SC and HC judges were those appointed through the Collegium system.
One judge originally from Madras High Court against whom there were very serious allegations of corruption almost made it to the Supreme Court as the SC Collegium unanimously recommended his name but it was only because of the objections of the Tamil Nadu lawyers who produced documentary proof of his corruption that this move could not materialize. In fact, a bill for his impeachment was moved in Parliament but it become infructuous when he resigned.
So it makes no difference what system of appointment of judges we have, as the entire judicial system has broken down.
3. There is a senior judge who presides over a bench hearing writ petitions. He reportedly disposes off 150 cases or more a day, but without opening the file, and by simply saying, with half closed eyes " Suit, suit " ( i.e. go and file a suit, which in crude language means go to hell, because sending someone to a suit is like sending him to hell, as it will now make him run from pillar to post for 20-30 years or more before the suit and its appeals are finally disposed off )
4. There is a Judge who comes to Court at 11.30 or 12 (the Allahabad High Court sits at 10 a.m.), dismisses all listing applications ( i.e. applications praying that some pending case be listed ), and rises whenever he likes.
5. If the hearing of a bail application is adjourned for some reason ( e.g. the govt. counsel wants to file a reply ) one never knows when the bail application will be listed again.In my opinion, it matter little whether we have a Collegium system or the NJAC because the Indian Judiciary is in my opinion beyond redemption.
Similar is the position in many other High Courts.
Apart from the above there is now massive corruption even in the higher Judiciary. While many judges are upright, many others (which may be 50% or even more) are not. The subordinate judiciary is said to be 75% or more corrupt.
Mr. Shanti Bhushan, a very senior lawyer of the Supreme Court and former Union Law Minister filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court a few years back stating that half of the previous 16 CJIs have been corrupt, and he could not certify the integrity of 2 more of them. Even after that affidavit was filed many Chief Justices of India who retired had serious allegations of corruption against them, and there are serious allegations of corruption against the present CJI Dattu. Many of these CJIs, SC and HC judges were those appointed through the Collegium system.
One judge originally from Madras High Court against whom there were very serious allegations of corruption almost made it to the Supreme Court as the SC Collegium unanimously recommended his name but it was only because of the objections of the Tamil Nadu lawyers who produced documentary proof of his corruption that this move could not materialize. In fact, a bill for his impeachment was moved in Parliament but it become infructuous when he resigned.
So it makes no difference what system of appointment of judges we have, as the entire judicial system has broken down.
Not that I am competent enough to comment on our Judiciary BUT
some glaring facts as we keep reading in our Dailies, do make one competent to
speak.
Beyond any shadow of doubt the Law of our land (Mera Bharat Mahan)
is tardy. Every one aims at an outside settlement rather than approaching any
Court because our "Hallowed" judges are too busy to hear any common man or his grouses. Quite often cases come up
for hearing (i;e; if they ever do) perhaps after the main contender or the
respondent have either gone away for life or are about to do so.
Corruption has already made its roadway into our Judicial system
and this is what our Judiciary is. The system adopted last year should be
restored - not that it won't be almost the same BUT a slight improvement on the
existing one!!
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COMMENTS
Respected Sirs and Madam,
* BITTER TRUTH & JUD(Y)ICIARY going hand in hand,not JUST daily/weekly/ monthly/Yearly, BUT for decades till it
gets delayed in other words-Centuries of delayed
(in)JUSTICE......!
"सत्यम ब्रुयत" ='SATYAM BRUYAT' is the popular BLOG and Respected JUSTICE
MARKANDEY KATJU Sir, always gives his to the point, opinion....
Kindly go through the above, and after the week end is
over, think in your spare time -{after undergoing the ART
OF RELAXATION SESSION}, if it is worth fighting
{'SUIT' in the Courts or is it easy wearing 'SUIT'
for Centuries}, to get the date for one's 'SUIT' filed in the
APEX COURT !
To illustrate an example,my Father kept telling us, *****
More than 30 to 40 Casual laborers used to be working
in groups for weeks in our JOSHI HAVELI ,हवेली, (at a place
called WAI- in the DISTRICT OF SATARA, MAHARASHTRA), just piling up the
dry chopped off JAWAR- corn strand (in Marathi termed as कड़बा), as we were, then, so called {so called} 'ZAMINDARS' of HUNDREDS of acres of AGRICULTURAL LAND !
There was one COURT CASE going on about a small
piece of Agricultural Land, in the 'PRIVY COUNCIL' (present days
SUPREME COURT) in early 1930s, and it was bit of a PRESTIGE issue
between warring factions! The JOSHIs had Lawyer named Shri
Gajendragadkar (Later Bombay HC Judge and finally CJI of our Apex Court), and our Opponents, very rich Landlord had the most acclaimed Lawyer
& Indian Independence Activist Barrister Bhulabhai Desai, fighting against
JOSHIs.
Like the Indian Television Soap Opera {of Ekta Kapoor}, running in unending episodes, तारीख पे तारीख in PRIVY COUNCIL, Joshis were occupied in
selling their LAND one by one, to buy the Air TICKET from (then) BOMBAY to
DELHI, for their LAWYER, till the time just दो बीघा झमीन only was left!
And later on that too, was split up among different
members of the Jt JOSHI FAMILY. Thank GOD, better sense prevailed, and my revered mother insisted on my father, to ask for open space, within the remaining property, and got छोटी गरीब नवाज़ की कुटिया constructed for us in 1942, year I was Born!
It was 'Out of Court Settlement' between two parties, (two Benchmates of the same Class - my revered father and the other one, was the off spring of opponents, very committed in दिल, दोस्ती, & दुनियादारी. Incidentally
after going through GOOGLE SEARCH, I did realize that LATE BHULABHAI Sir, and my Mother, at
least shared common date of Birth , he was 13 OCT 1877, and my Mother was 13 Oct 1913.
Nevertheless, I must congratulate, as far as we ESMs are
concerned, Respected Major AK Dhanapalan Sir, and Respected Colonel BK Sharma
Sir, and his RDOA and Respected Cdr Avtar Sir, in fighting their individual
battles {Rank Pay Case and Contempt Case}, even much beyond
the Apex Court, and I presume in one of these cases, Hon'ble Justice
Katju Sir, was 100% with the ESM SIDE! DESTINY THY
NAME!
They were PRIVY to their Respective GLORIOUS
VICTORIES,and बार बार सलाम to them !
Source- e-mail (edited)from By Major Ravi Joshi Veteran)
I fully agree justice katjus comments.it does not matter who appolnts judges.wr are concern what calibre judge is appointed and how sincere and honest he is. In India only the unlucky one go to court to seek justice. Many of them even may not be alive to hear the final verdict. So remember that " wakil ka hath hamesa client ke jeb mein"
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