India has been ranked lowly 88th in Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International, despite being a free democratic country with liberal constitutional structure. The Judicial system is also facing many problems. India has over 1,000 fast track courts, but 32 million cases are still pending, according to available official data. And to add to the victim”s woes, the pendency of such cases in courts are mounting due to massive vacancies in most of these courts, including High Courts.
There are 275 judges” posts vacant in 24 HCs and 3,700 slots for judges yet to be filled in the states. Even the resurgence of IT has left little or no impact on Judiciary which is reeling under deficiency of technological and human resources. The present method of selection and appointment to Supreme Court and High Courts by the judges themselves does not ensure their getting the ablest and most competent judges.
—Bureau Report
“In various matters there is no transparency in institutions like Supreme Court where majority of the cases are Special Leave Petitions (SLP) under Article 136. On Mondays and Fridays many of these cases are dismissed in a single line – “SLP is dismissed”. Even the cases that have been argued before the High Court for 20-25 days before a five member bench are also treated like these. SLPs are filed as it has important questions of law. Why no mercy is shown to the litigants who are incurring lakhs of rupees as expenses by explaining the reasons for dismissing the SLP?” —Adv. K Ramkumar, Advocate, Kerala High Court
Steps to be taken: | Commitments of BJP |
-Pass a law where any undeclared asset held abroad in any form becomes a government property in addition to the due penalty, imprisonment etc. -Benami Transactions Prohibition Act was passed in by the Parliament in 1988 but not used. Implement it strictly. -Special penal laws should be passed for the money being routed through non-cooperative tax haven as done by many countries. | -Administrative set-up should be people-centric, responsive and result-oriented. And members should be made truly accountable to their tasks through rigorous evaluation process. -Good performers should be rewarded; non-performers should be given opportunities and training support to improve. -Rationalisation and convergence among the Ministries, Departments and other arms of the government will be ensured to focus on delivery. -Services of youth in particular will be tapped to contribute in governance with fellowship and internship programmes. -Create a fund for modernisation of courts to improve the operational efficiency of courts. -Reform the criminal justice system to make dispensation of justice simpler, quicker and more effective. |
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