Title: Judicial Review: Perspective of a Constitutional Matters Advocate
1Judicial Review Perspective of a
- Constitutional Matters Advocate
Pacific Office Managium Juris, Infova 4th Floor,
Statesman House Building, Barakhamba Road,
Connaught Place, New Delhi-110001 (INDIA) ,
Tell-91 11 3044 64 89, Fax-91 11 3044 65 00
2Constitutional Matters Advocate
- In contemporary world when most of the oldest
existing institutions of India have undergone the
much needed overhauling to be in line with the
newer challenges, Indian Judiciary lags far
behind the pathways of precision, for it traces
back its lineage to the Common Law System (CLS),
which was provided by the British in the
nineteenth century and still functions according
to the set of precedents, traditions and ages old
idea of justice. It becomes interestingly
important that what exactly has made the legal
system of India suffer from the ailments of
inefficacy?
3Constitutional Matters Advocate
- An eminent lawyer of the Supreme Court, Kislay
Pandey states, "Indian law happens to be a
collective of colonial regime and its domestic
adaptation for a newborn nation, which received
baptism through Constitution when it was just
five years old." Certainly there is a dire need
of reviewing our entire judicial system and the
legal apparatus which has fallen prey to the
activity deficiency syndrome. Recent crusades
against corruption have brought forward some
technically difficult phrases like 'judicial
accountability' 'judicial reforms' into the
light and have justified the need of judicial
review by framing stronger laws against
corruption and the corrupt, which has ultimately
made the masses aware of the law's worth in
everyday life. - The shortcomings in the functioning of Indian
Judiciary have been well portrayed through the
infamous scandals of recent time, namely 2G
Spectrum, CWG, Adarsh Society, Cash for Vote,
etc. all of these have been long pending for
completion of inquiries and judicial probes
thereafter, no justice has been done in such high
profile scandals which involve big names from
industry, politics bureaucracy arena. This
clarifies the influence of extraneous elements
over the judicial system process, and
establishes their span of control too. The speed
of trials can be very easily manipulated
according to comfort of those in power, if they
are allegedly involved, signifying the proverb,
'innocent till proven guilty'.
4Constitutional Matters Advocate
- As someone rightly said, "A good lawyer knows the
law a great lawyer knows the judge." justice is
captive within the quagmires of judges pleasure
completely, as our judicial system was initially
framed by British, it still has traces of tyranny
and being servile in nature. From the process of
appointment of judges to different courts in
order to institute a transparent structure of
inquiry free from the legislative interference,
to the removal of judges when found guilty, each
and every step is too cumbersome and is being
seen in the poor light of inability of the
present political system to amend the legal
system as per the requirement of the nation.
While there has been a great deal of advancements
and growth in the technologies, and the changes
it has brought into the lifestyles of people
today, the Indian Judicial System seems to be
totally unaware of the ground realities. It
wouldn't be a surprise if the prevailing system
of administration of judiciary happens to be a
totally irrelevant and inefficient with respect
to the requirements of places and times.
5Constitutional Matters Advocate
- A number of legal experts, social activists,
entrepreneurs and media persons, who had a close
brush with the Indian Judiciary have always
pointed towards the need of a clearly defined
legal framework, which could carry out efficient
disposal of cases. The Indian Judicial System and
the Legal Framework have failed to keep up the
pace with the rising population, dynamic societal
structure, increasing laws and advancements in
technology. It's ironical that the ruling
machinery has long realized the drawbacks of the
grievance redressing mechanism of Indian
Judiciary, but hasn't taken any concrete steps to
strengthen the process of lawmaking and spreading
the broader message of justice and fairness for
all. Like many other organizations and
institutions, corruption in judiciary too is as
rampant as anywhere else, as it lacks the
presence of any in-house system of
accountability, whatever are the existing
mechanisms, and everything falls short of being
effective. The third pillar of democracy, Media
too, is afraid of being framed for contempt so
often remains silent over such issues which need
attention. The appointment impeachment of
Judges continues to be a hard nut which couldn't
be easily cracked and hence the supremacy of
Judiciary is maintained in every case.
6Constitutional Matters Advocate
- Supreme Court advocates, too emphasize over the
immediate overhauling of the judicial system so
that law could come out from the ages old image
of being blind and for worst, deaf. Equivocal
judicial activism is the need of hour, which
could take India to the frontline of judicially
competent nations of the world so that the Indian
Judicial System becomes free from all the
shortcomings it presently suffers from.