Indian Judicial System, can the poor expect fair Judgement?
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Delay in Pronouncement of Judgement
Another major criticism Indian judiciary face today is the considerable delay in judgement. Like most of the world's judiciary systems' motto Indian judiciary too upholds Sir William Blackstone's thought 'better that ten guilty persons escape than that of innocent suffer'. I personally connect this to be the reason for the time the court takes to announce the verdict, but it has to be noted that delayed justice is equivalent to denial of justice. It is highly appreciable from the part of Supreme Court that in the last three years the number of pending cases in the Supreme Court has been reduced from 1lakh to 20,000. It is a positive change. Likewise there should be other reformation processes such as transparency in the appointment process of judges, periodic evaluation of performance of judges and lawyers, adequate changes in lawyers' and courts' fee structure for being affordable to economically poor section of people, filling the appalling number of vacant posts of judges in various courts and rescheduling the working days and shifts of judges (In a year Supreme court judges work for 180 days and High court judges for 210 days) to reduce the quantity of pending cases and judiciary being open to criticism (The notable writer Arundhati Roy's one day imprisonment for criticizing the court's reading on displacement of Narmada Valley local people should read along with this). These steps will definitely make the underprivileged people feel law and order to be more fair and approachable and hence the judiciary could regain the lost part of its glory. Always remember Thomas Jefferson's words: The execution of law is more important than the making of them.