Lower court gets lower

In 2002, S.P. Bharucha, as chief justice of India, had courageously acknowledged that the country8217;s stream of justice was sullied 151...

In 2002, S.P. Bharucha, as chief justice of India, had courageously acknowledged that the country8217;s stream of justice was sullied 8212; especially at the level of the subordinate judiciary. The amazing story of an Ahmedabad magistrate issuing bailable warrants against the president, the chief justice and others 8212; without knowing who they were 8212; allegedly for a consideration of Rs 40,000 just comes as some more evidence of this ugly trend. Fortunately, the Supreme Court has not only expressed its strongest disquiet, it has acted promptly and ordered a CBI probe against the lawyers working with him, even as the concerned magistrate was suspended.

The lower courts are in fact crucial to the dispensation of justice in the country. After all, it is this level that most concerns the ordinary litigant and the evidence from Ahmedabad seems to suggest that there is fairly widespread corruption marking the functioning of these courts, with local bigwigs using the system to file false complaints to target their enemies and business rivals. The fact that this state of affairs is benefitting not just corrupt judicial officers but the lawyers who work in tandem with them became quite obvious in Ahmedabad when the legal fraternity chose to attack the journalists covering the story.

This is precisely why the Law Commission has time and again argued for training judicial officers in order to provide them with not just the necessary intellectual inputs but also the required ethical framework. While the importance of such an intervention cannot be emphasised enough, there is another aspect that demands scrutiny and that is the general welfare of the subordinate judiciary. The conditions in which they work and live are generally abysmal. Perhaps if this community was to be better looked after, the temptation to make money by unscrupulous means would be reduced to an extent. Bad housing and poor salaries do not constitute a strong foundation for a system that seeks to be impartial, effective and efficient.