The Indian Judiciary functions independently from the Executive and Legislative bodies of the Indian government. It functions at different levels. The Supreme Court is the apex body, followed by High Courts at the state level, district courts at the district level and Lok Adalats at the village and panchayat level. The judiciary is responsible for maintaining law and order in the country.
It solves problems caused by civil and criminal offences. The Indian judicial system is modeled on the British legal system that functioned during the colonial era. Not many amendments have been made in the system since independence. The Supreme Court came into power on 28th January, 1950; two days after the Indian Constitution came into effect.
The Supreme Court (SC) has many duties and responsibilities. It is the highest court of appeal in the land and is also the protector of the Constitution. The Supreme Court of India is constituted by the Chief Justice of India and 25 other judges. The Chief Justice is also consulted for appointing the judges of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court judges have the freedom to exercise their power when needed. A presidential order is a must for removal of the SC judges. Also, a two-thirds majority has to be obtained from both the houses.
Image Source : cdn.publishyourarticles.net
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The jurisdiction of the SC is 3-fold -original jurisdiction (in disputes between government and states), advisory jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction. The SC can also enforce fundamental rights according to Article 32 of the Constitution of India. In case a high court judgment is not satisfactory, one can appeal to the SC. The SC can accept or reject cases at its own discretion. It can also pardon criminals and cancel their life imprisonment or the death penalty. Sometimes, the President of India refers cases to the SC under Article 143 of the Constitution and the highest court then takes a decision on it.
The SC is not subject to external controls. Contempt of court is a punishable offence. The high court judges are appointed by the President of India in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the Governor of the state. The Chief Justice heads the high courts of India. The Indian judicial system is by and large honest and impartial in its dealings.
But it is not completely immune to corruption. A major drawback of the Indian judicial system is the time taken to dispose of cases. This itself is often tantamount to a denial of justice as cases drag on in courts until the litigants are no more. To prevent this, fast track courts are sometimes set up in special cases. Another accusation about the judiciary is that it does not hesitate to invoke the contempt of court law whenever there is some criticism about it.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Though the Indian contempt law was amended in 2006, making ‘truth’ a defense, in August 2007, journalists who worked for the Mid-Day newspaper were awarded a sentence of imprisonment by the Delhi high court for sullying the image of the Supreme Court, though they pleaded ‘truth’ as a defense. Such incidents have led some people to comment that the Indian judiciary enjoys unfair privileges.