We’ve grown up learning that the judiciary, the third pillar of democracy sustains the entire system that runs the country. The truth, however, couldn’t possibly be farther from that assumption. Lately, thanks to social media, the façade has come crashing down and the judges from various courts have been forcefully pulled down from their high pedestals because they were dumb enough to showcase their inadequacy IN COURTS; and the people are not happy. Or perhaps, again thabks to social media, now we are actually learning that the judiciary is also run by people who are no better than the rest of the bureaucrats in this country; a truth that had been kept protected from the public for a long time. The idea that the judiciary is an impenetrable fortress protected by its need for opacity is being questioned with all seriousness now.
It started with the Nupur Sharma case when the woman who needed protection was blamed by the Supreme Court judge Justice Surya Kant who stated “This lady is single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country” after there were unjustified lethal incidents following her statement in a TV debate. It was, somewhat later, followed by the incident of a rich juvenile who killed two students on the street in Pune while drunk-driving his Porsche; was asked to submit a 300 word essay on ‘road safety’ as a requirement for bail. Recently, the Ranveer Allahabadia case and the severity with which the comedians have been tried at court over a lame joke made the entire country question the judiciary’s priorities. As an icing on the cake, the Allahabad court justice, in connection to a harassment case, just few days ago ruled that grabbing the breasts of a minor girl and tugging her pyjama strings does not qualify as attempt to rape, just serious sexual assault. And then there is the infamous Atul Subhash case where the judge is accused of having laughed at the man’s mental and social state of being. Even after his suicide where he has clearly stated the atrocities his wife had inflicted upon him and his family, the court ruled in favour of the accused wife and granted her the custody of their son.
I could go on; there have been ample instances of the sort in recent times where courts have donned circus hats and made a mockery of themselves with rather blasphemous statements/actions concerning women’s safety, road safety and political issues. There used to be a small sense of fear associated with condemning the judiciary back in the day, but that’s gone now. Social media has enabled all of us to be brave enough and raise our voices against ‘milords’ who still assume a moral/social high ground and remain unaccountable for the blatant things they do/facilitate from their high seats. And now it is time for the system that is supposed to keep everyone else in check, to be checked.
I do not know if a regulatory body can be implemented to overlook the judiciary, or even if that would be reasonable because India clearly doesn’t do well with bureaucracy. However, the public is now demanding a level of transparency in the way cases are treated by the judiciary – how levels of punishment are decided, how bails are granted and how priorities are allotted to specific cases. It is 2025 and we are done with the rich kids being tried with essays for taking lives and the poor ones arrested for days over a Tweet. More so, with so much awareness against corruption, it is unbelievable that judges are still immune from financial scrutiny.
Speaking of 2025, systematic issues such as massive backlogs (reportedly over 50 million pending cases) exacerbated by archaic procedures like handwritten testimonies and slow witness examinations are simply a shameful facet of judiciary in the modern world. In addition to this, political and financial influence has ensured that the ones that truly deserve the court’s time don’t get it; for milords are busy trying Ranveer Allahabadia and not the 2 lakh+ pending rape cases in India.
Let’s share the onus
Let’s admit, its easy for us to ‘blame the system’ as we always do and feel victimized. The problem also lies in the fact that the Indian public is shamefully unaware of legal aspects and has close to zero interest in learning how courts must function as opposed to how they do function. The lack of interest and awareness in the facets that so deeply impact us has led to the chaos in the way this country is run because milords and the elite bureaucrats know they won’t be held accountable by a public that has such short memory. I firmly believe that change can come only when the public takes an active interest and joins voices with the few reasonable ones on social media/other public platforms.
All said and done, I also want to state that I criticize the judiciary of this country with full awareness that we are not the only country in this world run by corrupt bureaucrats who barely sustain the rickety systems. But we cannot keep going like this because judiciary is honestly our last hope. If people lose hope in the justice system of the country, nothing else will hold, and the moral compass of people cannot be relied upon. I hope more people will start holding the system accountable. And of course, I certainly hope this article is not contempt of court.
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