Judicial Reforms in India

Need for Judicial Reforms in India


1- Historical Overview: “Judicial Reforms” is a theme, which is so much of talked about but too little has been done. Indian judicial system has a long history right from the pre-British days. In the 18th century a uniform pattern of judiciary emerged and during the British regime High Courts were established in presidency towns. Thereafter, in 1937, the Federal Court was established to hear the appeals from the High Courts. Because of complexities of personal laws of Muslims and Hindus and various customs & practices, there were initial difficulties in administration of justice. After independence, the government focused on to have a systematic judicial system throughout the country and many new subordinate courts were established in various parts of the country. Today there is a network of over 14 thousand courts all over India and these courts are dealing with 4 crores of cases. Out of 14 thousand judges, the working strength would be about 12,500 judges and nearly 4 thousand cases are being handled per-Judge. This is too high as compared to the average load per-Judge in other countries. Indian Judicial System (In Brief): The Supreme Court is the apex court in the country. The Supreme Court’s exclusive original jurisdiction extends to all disputes between the Union and one or more states or between two or more states. The Constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court to enforce fundamental Rights. The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and 25 other justices, all appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. The High Court stands at the head of the state's judicial administration. There are 21 High Courts in the country. The Chief Justice of a High Court is appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the Governor of the state. Each state is divided into judicial districts presided over by a district and sessions judge, who is the...