Since science of argument, has no final end, With gowned pleaders ,likes of Sibal, Singhvi, to contend, Learned Judge should only grasp the facts, and, show them out, For the people to trust the Courts, without a doubt.
……….Panchatantra paraphrased.
Prof. H C Pande
With cases after cases, piling up in the Hon’ble Courts, from Civil to Supreme, with no signs of the jam easing or a lull in the incoming traffic of new cases ,with the plaintiffs, as well as, the defendants,or, more than likely, their descendants, still awaiting their turn to appear and seek justice, the claim of the Judiciary to be the third pillar of democracy is untenable, if not outright laughable. The Judges can afford to laugh with their promotions, summer vacations and pensions assured,and,the black silk gowned fraternity, can continue to double up with laughter with their bank accounts doubling every so often. And, yes, the people would laugh too, for having been taken for an unending ride but it hurts like the blazes. A legal system which allows the litigants to die and go bankrupt with the survivors still awaiting judgment, deserves, at best, a decent burial. In the variable functioning of the judiciary there is just one constant and that is the extra legal connection. This right connection allows one to short circuit the established legal network and the wheels of the juridical machinery turn at breakneck speed and one reaches the desired destination almost before wanting to. In an electrical network a short-circuit means, by passing the embedded safety devices, and, resulting in a system blow out. Here is the wonder of wonders ! The legal system does not blow up, though the set rigorous procedures have been by passed. The explanation is simple, the system must have blown up way back;a blown fuse can not be blown again. The legal system, in all its majesty, is there de jure,but,not de facto !
In the regal days of yore, there was the King and the Courtiers. To get justice the King had to be approached through his favourite Courtier, there was no other way. In the matter of dispensation of justice the Courts are the King today and one has to choose one from those courting the Court to plead one’s case to even get a hearing. In such a scenario how can the common man believe that the third pillar of democracy is really there.
(Prof. H C Pande is Vice Chancellor Emeritus , BITS, Mesra)
