By Tarunkumar G. Singhal, Raman Jokhakar Chartered Accountants
fiogf49gjkf0d
The chief justices and jurists have consistently pointed out that the share the judicial system gets from the budgets, the Union or the states, is meagre. Two months ago, Chief Justice Lodha said that it is getting only between 0.4 and 0.11 per cent of budgetary allocations. The percentage has remained static for years. The other Cinderellas such as health and education have started getting a better share and attention due to social concerns and public awareness. However, courts are still neglected, as vouched for by the current chief justice.
In contrast, the allocation for the justice system is 1.2 per cent in Singapore, 1.4 per cent in the US and 4.3 per cent in the UK. The miserly allotment the Indian judiciary gets includes what it generates from court fees, stamp duty and other miscellaneous heads, which also go to the general pool.
This creates a grim picture in terms of human suffering. More than 30 million cases are pending before the courts. Some judges have said that it would take decades to clear the matters already pending before them. Against the Law Commission recommendation of 50 judges for one million people, the current ratio is 10.5 for one million. Nearly half the judges’ posts are vacant. Tribunals, nearly 40 at last count, are in a worse condition. The consequences are dismal to millions of people awaiting justice. Jails are overflowing with persons awaiting trial. Substantial numbers have already undergone imprisonment for periods they would have been sentenced if they were convicted.
Unappealing service conditions and hidden pressures keep away the best talents at the bar from accepting judicial posts. Good lawyers have to sacrifice sizeable income if they are elevated to the bench. Judges must also be made of “sterner stuff” to resist political and corporate arm-twisting, as seen in recent episodes of mysterious recusals. As a result, the legal eagles have invited a situation in which they have to argue intricate points of law before a less-endowed brethren. It could be called poetic justice, but for the fact that the clients are the sufferers.
It is well-known that the government is the largest single litigant and 60 per cent of the cases involve central laws. Therefore, the Union should contribute adequately to the expenditure on better administration of the courts. New laws are manufactured at every turn without estimating the expenditure involved. In the US, bills are said to annex a financial allocation after a “judicial impact assessment”.
(Source: The Economic Times, dated 02-07-2014)
