I agree to a large extent with Justice Gogoi that the justice delivery system in India is ramshackled
Mathews J Nedumpara
98205 35428
28.02.2021
I agree to a large extent with Justice Gogoi that the justice delivery system in India is ramshackled. Though I prefer to use a different terminology. It is certainly facing a grave crisis. The question is who is responsible. I cannot comment on the role of the judges and I refrain from doing so. I would only say people like Justice Gogoi have no morale right to lament. It is the so called legal luminaries who destroyed the institution of judiciary. They reduced the absolutely useful tool of stare decisis, nay, precedent to a number game introducing the concept of strength of the bench in substitution of reason. They reduced law as an ass instead of reason. They converted the concept of pro bono litigation into a means of substituting the legislature and executive by the court. They undermined the concept of separation of powers and to a great extent converted our democracy into judgeocracy. They took great pride in the said aberration by proclaiming from the rooftop that the Supreme Court of India is the most powerful court on the planet. Yes indeed it is for nowhere else the judges could appoint themselves. Elsewhere in the world if a judgment is against the constitution, that judgment is void and the constitution prevails. Here it is vice versa, the constitution is subservient to the judicial pronouncements. Of late (State of TN vs State of Kerala) it has been held that the Parliament cannot even enact a law to remedy a mischief arising out of a judicial pronouncement. Inspite of all this, nay, the concept of judicial supremacy lot of noise is made in the print and electronic media that the Modi government has emasculated the judiciary. Could it be anything fartherer from the truth than that?
The threat which judiciary faces is all within. It’s failure to act according to the fundamental principles of jurisprudence and act fairly is the reason for the decline of its pristine glory. The court should confine itself to its legitimate province namely, adjudication of things which we call lis. The existential crisis which certainly the judiciary faces is the great explosion of precedents. The courtkacheri.com offers access to 10 lakh judgments for a small price. On a lighter veil I must add that with the election of Shri. Vikas Singh as the President of the SCBA China should be wary of us. Am yet to be fully relieved of the shock I had when I heard Shri. Vikas Singh on national Times Now TV had opined that we can institute a substantive suit in our courts for the injuries and damage which we have suffered because of the Corona pandemic against the government of China.