“The Indian Judiciary is in need of immediate reformation to manage the increasing number of cases more efficiently and lawfully,” said V. Gopala Gowda, a retired judge of the Supreme Court.
Speaking at a conference on ‘new criminal laws through lens of Indian Constitution’ organised by Advocates Platform For Democracy (APFD) here on Saturday, he said that the unprecedented change the Indian democratic system had witnessed in the past 10 years was alarming and it reduced the Indian Constitution to a mere set of rules.
Starting from the three farm laws which were amended and later withdrawn by the Union government to the other ‘anti-people’ laws, the government displayed its insensitiveness towards people’s agony and needs, Mr. Gopala Gowda said.
“Today our country is at a crossroads under the current regime. Under the Indian Constitution, Indian democracy is a strong vibrant institution to protect the federal structure, human rights of people, among others, but it seems to be slowly fading away from that fundamental principle,” he added.
Speaking about the insufficiency in manpower and infrastructure prevailing in the judiciary system, Mr. Gopala Gowda said that about 70% of undertrial prisoners in the Indian population had been awaiting justice for several years.
The 50 million pending cases in the Indian court’s shed light on the situation of lagging Indian justice delivery system, Mr. Gowda said.
Not just the justice system, but the situation of jails, known widely as correctional centres, was in a precarious condition, he said.
Pointing out lawyers as the defenders of the Indian Constitution, he said that at every stage of the country’s history, lawyers displayed their willingness in fighting the dangers to the Constitution.
Senior advocate T. Lajapathi Roy speaking at the event about the new criminal laws said that though the Union government claimed that the new laws were to move away from the colonial laws, it actually dragged it back to the slavery system.
“The new law suggests social service punishment i.e. work without wages for the offences under ₹5,000 or nuisance in public in an inebriated condition,” he added.
Senior advocates P.P. Mohan and Henri Tiphagne and others spoke.
