Indian Judiciary

Judiciary: Nearly 30 million cases pending

In India, if you file a case, your case might come up for hearing 10 years later. Well, with a population of 1 billion and counting what would you expect? India could take some lessons from the US on litigation -- a country where people get sued if their dog poops on the road, or they show cruelty towards their cat.

Over three million cases are pending in India's 21 high courts, and an astounding 26.3 million cases are pending in subordinate courts across the country. At the same time, there are almost a quarter million under-trials languishing in jails across the country. Of these, some 2,069 have been in jail for more than five years, even as their guilt or innocence is yet to be ascertained.

The only thing that works in India is money and muscle power -- even in the judiciary. Not true? Tell me one case of where a politician or an actor or a businessman who is accused of some really serious crimes (mostly they do turn out to be true even though we have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt) actually punished?

Take the case of the Anti-Sikh riots. Despite 16 years of courts and cases and more cases, not one accused has been brought to book. Congress MPs Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler have been charged with murder in the case. Yet, both of them roam freely.

The ex-chief executive officer of Satyam, now Mahindra Satyam, Ramalinga Raju is now "recuperating in a hospital" when he should be serving time in a jail for embezzling thousands of crores of rupees from his company. That is another fad: Feigning illness to escape going to jail.

Actors too are not far behind. Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt have been in the limelight mostly for all the wrong things they have done rather than their acting. Sanjay Dutt, who is one of the six accused in the 1993 Mumbai riots case, was sentenced to six years in jail under the Arms Act but was exonerated for terror offences under the stringent TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act). Sanjay Dutt has moved on... He got married and is going to be a father.

In September 2002, Salman Khan ran his Land Cruiser over some pavement dwellers killing one and seriously injuring three people. At the time of the accident, Salman was returning from the J W Mariott Hotel in Juhu and heading for his home in Bandra. The actor was booked for rash driving and causing death due to negligence under sections 304, 279 and 388 of the Indian Penal Code. He is currently making movies...

Source - India Spectrum (MSN.IN)