Revival of Indian Judiciary

30.11.2023

Revival of Indian Judiciary , Daily Current Affairs , RACE IAS : Best IAS Coaching in Lucknow 

Why in the news?

The Supreme Court needs structural changes to transform the constitutional system.

Important points:

• India has a single unified system of judiciary in view of the single Constitution.
• It replaces the Federal Court of India and enforces both central and state laws.

Why is there a need for reform in the Supreme Court:

• Comprehensive Jurisdiction: The Supreme Court hears cases between the Center and the states as well as between two or more states; Rules on civil and criminal appeals; and provides legal and factual advice to the President.
• Complexity: The Supreme Court has different types of benches such as Division Bench, Full Bench and Constitutional Bench and has diverse jurisdiction to discuss different subjects.
• Irrelevant cases: Some cases are not very important or urgent, thus taking up more of the court's time and resources.
• Pending cases: Currently, 79,813 cases are pending before 34 judges of the Supreme Court.
• Delay in Justice: Delay in justice is tantamount to not getting justice. One of the main reasons for delay in justice is that court cases are by their very nature long established.
• Most of the prisoners are undertrials: Most of the prisoners in Indian jails are undertrials, who remain in jails until a definite conclusion is reached in their case.
• Interference: The judiciary has also been criticized for overstepping its limits and interfering in the functioning of the executive and legislative branches of government.
• Regional imbalance: The apex court receives more appeals from its nearby high courts, such as Punjab and Haryana, Allahabad and Delhi, while fewer appeals are filed in distant courts due to difficulties in access and costs.

Supreme Court of India:

• The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judicial body of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the Constitution.
• It is the most senior constitutional court, and has the power of judicial review.
• The Chief Justice of India is the head and chief justice of the Supreme Court, which has a maximum of 34 judges.
• It has wide powers in terms of original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction.

Major constitutional provisions related to the Supreme Court:

• Provision for the Supreme Court has been made in the Indian Constitution under Part V (Union) and Chapter 6 (Union Judiciary).
• In Part Five of the Constitution, Articles 124 to 147 describe the organization, independence, jurisdiction, powers and procedures of the Supreme Court.
• Article 13: Laws which are contrary to fundamental rights are declared void by the judiciary.
• Article 50: It ensures the separation of the judiciary from the executive.
• Article 145: It states that there shall be a special bench of the Supreme Court consisting of at least 5 judges.
• Article 143: Deals with matters involving important questions of law such as the interpretation of the Constitution or the power of the President to consult the Court.
• Article 137: It gives the Supreme Court the power of judicial review through which it can declare any law void if it is unconstitutional or violative of the fundamental rights.

Major steps taken for access to justice:

• E-Court Portal: The e-Court National Portal was launched on 7 August 2013.
• This portal provides data related to case status, daily cause-list, cases filed and registered cases through Case Information System.
• Tez 2.0: Launched by the Supreme Court e-Committee to digitize all judicial records and enable their online transmission among courts, tribunals and other stakeholders.
• National Judicial Data Grid: It is a web-based platform that provides case status, pending and disposal data of District and Subordinate Courts across the country.
• Scheme for Action Research and Studies on Judicial Reforms: It is implemented by the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms.
• It provides financial assistance for conducting research, evaluation, monitoring, capacity building and innovation in the areas of justice delivery, legal research.