India’s justice system needs more judges pushing cases towards a speedier resolution according to Senior Supreme Court Advocate Fali Nariman.
Speaking at a an event organised by Harvard Law School Centre in New Delhi, Nariman lamented that the nation’s crime control model was not ideal as it emphasised more on proof than truth.
His address covered a number of points on the issues faced by the legal sector in the country :
- According to him the Indian system of justice was British in nature and highly adversarial, without having any elements of dispute mechanism that were present in Bharat or Hindustan
- Nariman noted that India’s legal system built on the Constitution was “inextricably linked to the language English, both of which are imported. He added that the original “English oak” was now “a large sprawling banyan tree,” with new trunks, by which he was referring to growth of alternative methods of dispute resolutions like lok adalats
- He highlighted that the best definition of the rule of law as that which is“also the rule of the good law.” A law which can be characterised by the judge “as abhorrent, grossly unfair, totally unjust” when needed.
- Nariman also pointed out that India’s criminal laws outdated in regards to punishment. He suggested that reforms be proposed again despite earlier attempts failing previously at the Indian Parliament.
- He opined that criminal courts in India were functioning as “places where evidence does get recorded” and not where the truth was sought. He said that the failure to have a “relentless pursuit of truth” enabled the wealthy and cunning parties to manipulate police investigations and also bribe witnesses appearing in court .
- According to Nariman, the “the crying need of the hour “ for India’s legal system is “robust judging’”, stating that a good trial judge must “hear not only what is said but to have the mental agility to comprehend what is not been said as well.”
- Nariman pointed out that the Indian legal system had “far too few judges and too many lawyers “
- According to him, the title of an analysis of the US legal profession published by the Oxford University Press “Too much law, too little justice, too much rhetoric, too little reform,” was also applicable for India
- He applauded that Indian lawyers were doggedly working for the “impartial administration of the law” even in dire situations like the 1975 Emergency. Today he said many lawyer and NGOs are fighting injustice and exploitation in the courts using the tool of PILs
- According to him, the critical need for the legal system is that cases not to have “prolonged arguments” or judgements in courts “but primarily solutions.”
