APEX FAILURES?
Perhaps among the nations
of the world, in our country alone, judiciary is accorded a most powerful,
highly respectable and unassailable – and in a sense even unaccountable –
position and is viewed as an ultimate resort to the people for equity and
justice. However, but for a few exceptions, it is also failing to stand up to the
needs and expectations of the people and the Apex Court, with the topmost
position and powers, whose decisions are stipulated as binding law on one and
all, is recently traversing in a peculiar manner not conducive to the
protection and promotion of justice and rule of law. The constitutional courts
– High Courts and the Supreme Court – are to be the real and wise interpreters
of the constitution and statutes and mainly for upholding and protecting the
fundamental rights of the people, rule of law and the basic structure of the democracy
in the country. However, the enormous delays in the judicial system defeat the
purpose and in this sphere our justice delivery system may secure down-most ranks
in the world. It is a common phenomenon to see lakhs of cases pending disposal
since years, and many since even decades. The system is worsened by a sort of
feudal-bureaucratic culture, now augmented by a corporate capitalist credo, pervading
the judicial system and also a sort of servility to the powers that be, and
growing isolation from the needs and aspirations of the common people in
particular. At the same time a powerful force of institutional egoism, which
would not tolerate any sort of control and regulation, is also present. With
all this it is extremely sad that developments concerning the life and death of
the common people as also the very survival of the basic structure of whatever
quasi-federal democracy prevalent now are being ignored with impunity.
Comparatively the apex court in the United Kingdom, to which country we owe our
existing rule of law, seems to be far more competent, expeditious and alive to
their pressing problems and constitutional disputes of the day as the recent
near-full court decision on the illegal prorogation of their parliament shows.
Hope we learn a leaf from it’s as also other foreign/international Courts’ practices,
firstly discard the current collegium system invented by a
wanna-self-perpetuating superior judiciary, properly regulate the appointments
to and performance of this august branch, and, even with the existing structure,
our Apex Court focuses more on protecting and promoting the fundamental rights
and, more pressing now, the basic structure of our quasi-federal democracy and
deals with and disposes the disputes regarding bifurcation of states,
undermining of Article 370, etc. in a very expeditious, erudite and impartial
manner. §§§
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