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Journalism of Courage
Judicial reforms have been too slow to make an appreciable impact. It is the practitioners of law who have proved to be the stumbling blocks in any attempt to reform the system. The story is much the same with the effort the Vajpayee government has made to amend certain provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure CCP. The lawyers see in the changes a threat to their interests and have, therefore, threatened to strike work on Thursday. Since the Bill for the amendment has been passed by Parliament, all that the government has to do is to notify it. Nobody believes that the amendment, which has been in the making for some time, will transform the judicial system and bring it in sync with the needs of the day. As it is, it only tinkers with the Code, not overhauls it. Nevertheless, it makes a promising beginning as it strikes at some of those features of the Code which encourage delay and make the whole judicial process cumbersome. Adjournment of hearings on frivolous grounds and endless appeals are just twoaspects of the system that call for urgent reform. The idea of putting a brake on them is to ensure a measure of certainty to the court proceedings. It is not difficult to realise why the lawyers are not ready to give the CCP amendments a try.
Central to the issue is the lawyers8217; perception that these proposed changes will deprive them of some income. But it does not occur to them that the money they lose is the money the litigants save. Be that as it may, the matter should not be reduced to one of lawyers8217; income. It is well known that the lawyers had wanted to play a major role in the running of the consumer courts, where cases are now decided on the basis of written complaints and seldom on elaborate and long-winding arguments. Similarly, in a large number of civil and criminal cases, particularly those related to frauds, the judges can decide them without having to hear arguments and cross-examination by the advocates. Since this will deprive the lawyers of some work, they have been resisting it. In any case, there can be little doubt that the justice system in its present form has failed to deliver the goods. At a conservative estimate, there are now over 30 million cases pending, some of which are over a decade old. At the present rate ofclearance, it will take a century for the courts to clear them.
