Harsh reality inside courtrooms

One of the biggest problems facing India’s judicial system is the long delay in delivering justice. We all know people who spend a lifetime going to court for even a minor civil case. For many, the wait for justice becomes a punishment in itself. In criminal cases, the situation is even worse. Some people spend years in jail waiting for trial, suffering more than the punishment they might eventually receive. The saying “justice delayed is justice denied” becomes painfully true in such situations. Justice must protect not only victims but also the rights of the accused. The only real solution is to speed up court procedures and reduce these delays.

Justice Surya Kant, who took charge yesterday as the 53rd Chief Justice of India, had already made it clear before assuming office that his top priority would be to resolve as many long-pending cases as possible. He pointed out that there are around five crore cases pending in district courts across the country. In the Supreme Court and various High Courts together, nearly 90,000 cases are still awaiting a verdict. Behind these shocking numbers are crores of individuals and families whose lives remain stuck in uncertainty. We often hear the phrase, “Every government file represents a human life.” Similarly, every pile of pending cases holds the pain and tears of many families. It is not enough to simply accept these delays as an unavoidable flaw in the system.

According to the National Judicial Data Grid, the Kerala High Court alone has 44,68,865 pending civil cases. More than 32 lakh of these have been pending for over a year—nearly 72 per cent. There are also 19,11,480 pending criminal cases, and 69 per cent of them have been ongoing for more than a year. This does not mean the High Court is inactive. Just last month, the court disposed of 1,65,082 cases, including 82,241 criminal matters. But with hundreds of new cases being filed every day, clearing the backlog seems like a distant dream. Encouraging quicker disposal in lower courts and addressing operational issues—such as the shortage of judges—is essential for improving the situation.

The new Chief Justice’s commitment is clear and sincere, but for his goals to be achieved, vacant judicial posts must be filled quickly, and special courts must be set up for specific types of cases. India created special courts for POCSO cases to speed up trials related to crimes against children. Yet, even in POCSO cases, delays are still common. People often say they hope never to enter a courtroom in their lifetime—not because they fear justice, but because they fear getting trapped in endless legal proceedings. The principle that “a thousand guilty persons may escape, but not one innocent person should be punished” cannot be disputed. But today, long delays end up punishing both the guilty and the innocent. This must end.