Modernization of Indian Judiciary

Submitted By: The Justice LeagueAnuj Singh, Anirban Ghosh, Pranab Kumar Singh, Sarvendra Vikram, Kumar VikrantBirla Institute Of Technology, Patna

The INDIAN JUDICIARY is losing quite a lot of its sheen courtesy on account of the negligence of diligence. Some of the common reasons for this problem are:-

JUDGES TO COMMON PEOPLE RATIO • There are 14 judges per 10,00,000 persons in India.• At present there are only around 19,000 Judges in India.

THE NUMBER OF FALSE CASES BEING REGISTERED• Around 30-45% of cases filed are fake.• Leads to embarrassment & diminution of social status. • Stacking of cases renders the proceedings costly & time consuming.

THE DELAY IN PROSECUTION AND CONDUCTION OF LEGAL PAPERWORK AND CASES

• Pendency of cases at present is around 2.5 crores.• Delays might result in losing a key witness or physical evidences.• Delay can cause unnecessary distress to the victim.

INCOMPETENCY OF LEGAL EDUCATION SYSTEM• 60-70 thousand law graduates join legal profession every year. • Law students lack practical skills to solve real-life cases.• Incapability of BCI to guide and mentor fresh law graduates.

CORRUPTION AT VARIOUS LEVELS OF JUDICIARY • Threat and Coercion used by powerful people to manipulate decision making process.• “Hush-Money”(bribes) being given to poorly paid government officials as an incentives to

stop them from undertaking proper investigation.• Evidence tampering and witness manipulation.

INSTITUTION, DISPOSAL AND PENDENCY OF CASES IN SUPREME COURT

Proposed Solutions

FORMATION OF PANEL FOR INSTITUTION OF CASES

QUICK DISPOSAL OF LEGAL PAPERWORK AND CASES

INCREASING PROFICIENCY OF LEGAL EDUCATION SYSTEM

• To be implemented on low level courts(civil courts etc.) and other such low level law authorities.• Personnel to be selected for the PANEL should have adequate qualities and qualifications and

have proper knowledge and prior experience in handling problems related to judiciary(RETIRED PROFFESORS,JUDGES and EXPERIENCED LAWYERS and active POLICE OFFICERS)

• Main motive of panel should be to inquire about the authenticity of cases being registered.

• Using Information Technology as a catalyst.

• Increasing interaction of fresh law graduates with prominent lawyers throughout the nation.

• Extension of activities to be performed by the Bar Council of India.

• The present system viz. “let the Courts decide every case” must be done with.• Courts may also take resort to Section 89A of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 in order to ensure

that litigants first exhaust all modes of alternative dispute resolution.• Investigation should be more on scientific evidence and documentary evidence than on oral

evidence.

A LAYOUT FOR THE PROPOSED JUDICIAL BODY

RATIONALS FOR CHOOSING THE GROUP

1) Active and dynamic personality.

2) Investigation experience.

3) CONTROLLING and dominating figure .

4) Has a clear idea of how the judiciary system works.

COPS

RETIRED LAWYERS/PROFESSORS

Number of Members

2 officers per POLICE STATION in each and every district( number may subject to variation according to the number of cases coming in).

RATIONALS FOR CHOOSING THE GROUP

1) Long and distinguished work experiences.

2) Acute knowledge of the LAW.

3) Can read the mentality of common people and analyze them

4) Free time in abundance

Number of Members

20 to 30 per district (numbers may vary according to the size of the district)

RECRUITMENT PROCESS1)Retired personnel for a district should be selected from the district itself.2)Cops should be selected on the basis of their track record3) The BAR Council can act as a reference for recruitment

WORKING & FUNCTIONING OF PANEL

• All cases lodged are to be brought under the observation of the panel.• As indicated the MAIN objective of the PANEL is to check for the authenticity of the cases being lodged.• The active members(cops) will gather information on each and every aspect of a single case.• The detailed information gathered is analyzed by the retired personnel, before they pass their verdict.

INTERACTION OF PANEL WITH JUDICIAL BODIES

• The panel will be subdivided into groups( each group will have its own set of active and retired members).

• A person who has had his case rejected by the panel once will be given another chance to have his case authenticated by another sub-group (i.e. if he feels his case is authentic legitimate),one group will work on one case at a time.

• The authentic cases are handed over to the court, whereas the ones falsely registered are curbed by punishment.

INCREASING PROFICIENCY OF LEGAL EDUCATION SYSTEM

PROBLEMS

• The lawyers passing out of colleges each year are not up to the scratch

• They cannot use their theoretical knowledge to full use while dealing with problems and cases in the real world

• The lawyers passing out of colleges each year are not up to the scratch

• They cannot use their theoretical knowledge to full use while dealing with problems and cases in the real world

SOLUTION

• Proper exposure to real life courts and cases should be provided to the students

• This can be achieved my increased interaction with professional lawyers.

• THE BAR COUNCIL OF INDIA is requested to put up a new website solely for this purpose, where the students who enroll in LLB and BL courses must register in this website.

• Proper exposure to real life courts and cases should be provided to the students

• This can be achieved my increased interaction with professional lawyers.

• THE BAR COUNCIL OF INDIA is requested to put up a new website solely for this purpose, where the students who enroll in LLB and BL courses must register in this website.

SALIENT FEATURES

• The students will be required to pay a fee for using the services of the website.

• Half of the fee shall be paid by the student himself and the other half shall be provided for by the government.

• Not only should students be registered in this website, it should be made mandatory for everyone who is practicing law in the country.

• The lawyers already in practice will play the mentors role in a successful up-bringing of a modern generation lawyer for which they will be accordingly paid.

• The students will be required to pay a fee for using the services of the website.

• Half of the fee shall be paid by the student himself and the other half shall be provided for by the government.

• Not only should students be registered in this website, it should be made mandatory for everyone who is practicing law in the country.

• The lawyers already in practice will play the mentors role in a successful up-bringing of a modern generation lawyer for which they will be accordingly paid.

LAYOUT OF WEBSITE

• A separate BODY has to be formed inside the BAR COUNCIL, who will only preside over the matters concerning this website( acceptance of fees, payment of mentors).

• It will be also their job to hire it professionals who will design the website and would me responsible for making it user friendly and keep it running unceasingly and secure.

STEPS FOR QUICK DISPOSAL OF CASES

Cases under certain statutes and areas of law are choking the dockets of magisterial and specialized courts, and the same have been identified as follows:

• Matrimonial cases.• Cases under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.• Cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.• Cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.• Regular murder cases/appeals.• Civil cases, including suits which may have been rendered

infructuous.• Cases under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.• Petty cases such as Traffic Challans.• Motor Accident Claims.

PROS & CONS OF PROPOSED SYSTEM

Advantages Challenges & Risks

Since there are 30-45 % of false cases , which will be monitored and removed by the panel. This helps the court to a large extent to decreases the number of cases and helps in providing EXPEDITIOUS JUSTICE.

The website of the BAR council is prone to hacking and tampering of the data uploaded on the website might occur.

As it is implemented on the lower levels so all the information and data are collected before hand, the investigation is done prior to the case in the court which again helps in swift justice.

The retired members of the panel may show partiality in giving their verdict on the authenticity of cases as their posting in the home district might influence their decision.

By implementing the IT-SECTOR and creating the website, we enhance the level of interaction and exposure of amateur law students in order to produce better and efficient lawyers for the future.

All HIGH LEVEL COURTS are free from the jurisdiction of the panel. Fraud registration and illegal law practices might get into the judiciary system, common people might be taken in.

MEASURES TO COMBAT:

Numbers of Courts are to be enhanced to deal with each type of cases . Fast Track procedures must be evolved to deal with the cases earmarked as causing bottlenecks.

Special Court Rooms, additional buildings and other infrastructure must be provided for the above purpose. Increased infrastructural support must be considered on a war-footing.

Special Courts to process cases on a non-stop day-to-day basis with no adjournments except in rare circumstances.

Investigation should be more on scientific evidence and documentary evidence than on oral evidence.

Investigation should be Crime to Criminal.

Appendix

R e f e r e n c e s

• SILF: Indian Judicial Systemhttp://www.silf.org.in/16/Indian-Judicial-system.htm

• Indian Legal System: Problems and challenges http://www.publishyourarticles.net

• National Litigation policyhttp://www.legallyindia.com/tag/national-litigation-policy

• Vision Statement 2011-2013http://www.barcouncilofindia.org/about/about-the-bar-council-of-india/vision-

statement-2011-13/• www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in• The Rule of Law Index 2012-2013 Report | The World Justice Project

http://worldjusticeproject.org/publication/rule-law-index-reports/rule-law-index-2012-2013-report