Witness for the prosecution

 

 

The average Indian middle class woman is so cautious that she accepts even heartbreak (most of the time). In sleepy Nagpur, she knows her place. It would take bestial degradation for her to plot murder. Forty women raped by one man, some giving birth to his children and still getting raped by him, and no chance of justice amid unending adjournments. Akku Yadav had no inkling of what was coming on the eve of Independence Day 2004. A group of women reached court, surrounded him, hurled chilli powder and lynched him. In Mumbai, things are more routine. Every now and then, people are gunned down in district courts. It’s kind of expected.

You go to courts for justice. Not to kill. Why then does it happen in India? One reason is the three crore cases pending in district courts. Another is the atmosphere of a district court. The Tis Hazari court complex in Delhi is Asia’s biggest district court. It’s almost scary to enter that place. Lawyers have the air of sharks and only as a last resort, does the common man go there. When the Delhi High Court tried to improve things by ordering district court branches to move out to Rohini (North Delhi), there was mayhem. Tis Hazari lawyers ransacked the new court complex. They should have been debarred at once and sent to prison. They weren’t.

They went berserk also on the issue of foreigners practicing in Indian courts. District courts are where life churns. It’s a horror in India that needs something drastic. 1) Outsource. Pass on more powers to Consumer Courts and let them deal with cases involving PSUs as well. 2) Pitch for more Lok Adalats, a success where people settle things among themselves. 3) Have strong Internal Affairs wings to keep an eye on corrupt lawyers and magistrates. 4) Make an example of a corrupt judge or lawyer by making him pay for his deeds.

In a civilised country, no family should be made to make more than two or three trips to hostile court complexes. “Right now, the social and political condition in the country is very conservative. The judiciary, at present, is under the influence of the social structure,” Gurudas Dasgupta, CPI Lok Sabha member, told TSI. It won’t be long before the levee breaks. Then, the judiciary will be under influence of a different kind.