Dear Members,
The judiciary is a vital organ of any democratic setup responsible to provide, fair and expeditious justice to all. We citizens of India look upon our constitution for ensuring “Justice to all“. Everyone wishes that Justice which is the soul of a democratic society must be administered without fear or favour. Integrity, impartiality and intelligence are some of the important characteristics of the independent judiciary in a democratic setup.”
For many decades the Indian judicial system was considered to be above all forms of corruption and was expected to the last bastion of truth in a country that is plagued with lies and deceit. Can we say it is still the same?
The general impression is that Indian Judicial System is hostile towards the common man and general public but hospitable to rich, powerful and dishonest. When caught, a rich and powerful criminal would say, “I am innocent and I have full faith in our judiciary. It would do justice to me.” Do you call that justice is done, when he goes scot free from the courts, despite every bit of evidence against him. This has been state of affairs with all the scams and scandals, which came into public domain, in the recent years. As an ordinary citizen one always wonders – Why should a technicality allow an apparent crime to go unpunished, and if that is so why should one waste taxpayers money spent on investigation for years on end? Should we take it that Legal system in India favours the powerful people? A few known cases, like bail to Kalmadi and A. Raja , the lenient treatment to two MLAs who thrashed a cop, and the cop was suspended seem to strengthen the belief.
There is also the attitude of Society that dissuades persons from going to law enforcers. Even today, a visit from the police at your home for any reason encourages gossip in the entire locality. This negative societal bias coupled with the lack of reach has contributed to such negative thoughts for the judicial system. The responsibility for this cannot be attributed to any one individual or party, but must lie with the system itself which is not alive to local needs and problems.
Indian judicial system has been facing many problems and challenges in the course of dispensing justice. The major problem is the proceedings are lengthy and this delays the disposal which in turn leads to accumulation of cases and corresponding delay. The other problems are lack of efficiency in proper interpretation as well as implementation of laws. Apart from shortage of Judges the division of jurisdiction is also not proper and this is leading to an increase in the burden of the higher judicial forums including the Supreme Court. There are many other challenges and problems faced by the Indian legal system, which makes us think :
Whether our judicial system is turning weak ?
Are there any prospects of reform?
Despite all the above questions bothering us, we have a tremendous faith in Indian judiciary. Most of us believe that our judiciary is responsible and will provide fair and expeditious justice, and is the guardian of fundamental rights of the citizen. To me a legislation like the RTI Act gives much needed confidence.
It is the need of hour that legal and judicial setup be streamlined right from lower level so that the gradually deteriorating confidence of common man in the judiciary could be restored.
Over the past few years we do find increase in use of technology for in the judiciary for Data Storage. There are also structural reforms which might help in recruiting more judges and also spreading the reach of the courts to the remotest regions. Substantial improvement is required in the functioning of the courts, in order to minimise the time in disposing off the cases. Practically seen, there is no time limit fixed for arguing cases. Cases are being argued for months altogether in Indian Courts, while in USA, counsels are given exact time to argue the case. The number of holidays in India is far too much not only in judiciary, but in almost all departments.
Also it’s time to adopt and look at Alternate dispute resolution forums. Many structural reforms are required to improve the working standard of the judiciary so that the importance of this vital organ is not reduced and the confidence of people is not eroded further.
Lest you feel depressed by the thoughts that I have expressed let me end on a more cheerful note. Friends, there is a misconception people have about CAs, that we are of a very serious type, shy, reserved, and only workaholics. In reality this is not true, but we are only labelled as such. Many of us have great talent in other fields like instrumental music, singing, dance, dramatics, mimicry etc., but which is not known to the world. I am sure you all will agree that we professionals should showcase our hidden talents and show others that we are not only bookworms. Thinking How & When ?
Membership & Public Relations Committee of your Society has planned a BCAS Variety Programme on Friday, 7th June 2013 on the occasion of release of BCAS Referencer 2013-14. So let’s make the beginning and prove that we can do lot more than finance and calculations. I appeal to all of you to participate and also motivate your family members, fellow professionals or students to take part in the Variety performance show. Let’s prove to the world in this New financial Year that we are different !
With warm regards,
Yours truly,
Deepak R. Shah
