Skip to main content

United nations goals take backseat: India lags in creating just, peaceful, inclusive society

By Gagan Sethi* 
Goal 16 of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals may have focused, among other things, on access to justice for all. But facts show that India’s effort towards achieving the goal is anything but satisfactory, whether it is provision of infrastructure, human resources, or public investment into achieving the goal. Worse, when it comes to the marginalised communities, access to justice particularly takes backseat.
A nationwide survey on access to justice, conducted by Bengaluru-based NGO Daksh, in 305 courts across 170 districts of 24 states, interviewing 9,329 litigants, gave startling results. The loss of wages and business for litigants attending lower court hearings was estimated at over Rs 50,000 crore a year at an average of Rs 1,746 per case per day. If one adds to this the cost incurred by litigants in a year on payment of legal fees and other expenditure, the figure reaches a whopping Rs 80,000 crore annually or 0.70 per cent of India’s GDP (in 2015-16).
Pointing out that “majority of litigants strongly felt that delay in their cases is caused because judges do not pass orders quickly”, the survey report states that more than 60 per cent of the litigants said the delay was caused because the judges did not pass orders quickly, while about 50 per cent said that it was because of lack of adequate judges. The marginalised communities suffer the most, suggests the survey. In majority of cases involving poorer and marginalised sections, the lawyers appointed by courts are “not allotted” through legal services authorities (without any fees). Of the 9,329 cases, only in 132 of the survey respondents, or less than 2 per cent, said they availed the facility. The rest got lawyers based on reference from family, or friends, or colleagues, or other acquaintances.
There is no dearth of data suggesting poor infrastructure and human resources as the main hurdles in access to justice. A report by the Centre for Research and Planning of the Supreme Court (October 2016), titled “Subordinate Courts of India: A Report on Access to Justice 2016”, stated, “If the demographic standard of 50 judges per million of population is applied, with a population of 1,210.6 million (Census 2011) India requires a total of 60,530 judges to reach a judge-population ratio of 50 per million.” It pointed out that India has a judge-population ratio of 18 judges per million as on December 31, 2015, one of the worst in the world. Australia has 48 judges per million, while England and Wales have 56 judges per million. If the 19,634 “serving magistrates” of England and Wales are included, the ratio shoots up to 342 judges per million. China has 147 judges per million.
That the marginalised communities suffer the most because of poor infrastructure and human resources is clear from the Supreme Court taking strong exception to tardy implementation of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Criticising the government’s “indifferent attitude” towards the Act, a bench headed by former Chief Justice TS Thakur, observed in December 21, 2016 that “the constitutional goal of equality for all the citizens can be achieved only when the rights of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are protected. The abundant material on record proves that the authorities are guilty of not enforcing the provisions of the Act.”
Facts released by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in December 2016 showed that from 2013 to 2015, only 43.3 per cent of the total cases registered (13,8077) under the Act were disposed of by courts and 25.7 per cent of total cases disposed of by courts (59,779) ended in conviction. “In certain states, that is Andhra Pradesh (6.3 per cent), Gujarat (3.1 per cent), Karnataka (3.5 per cent), Maharashtra (7.6 per cent), Odisha (4.3 per cent), Tamil Nadu (7.5 per cent), Telangana (7.5 per cent) and West Bengal (3 per cent), the conviction rate was in single digit,” an agenda note put forward for discussion before the ministry reads.
The International Dalit Solidarity Network notes non-implementation of laws prohibiting caste discrimination, especially the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and ignoring of “several UN human rights bodies” which have “underlined the need for strong enforcement of laws to prevent and eliminate discrimination”. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has “expressed deep concern about the non-implementation of legislative measures to protect the rights of Dalits in a large number of affected countries”, while UN Special Rapporteur has called it as one of the “contemporary forms of racism.”
An international survey carried out by the World Justice Project, placed India among 133 countries in rule of law index, well below at least two peer countries Brazil (52nd) and South Africa (43rd). An editorial notes, the poor ranking is the result of “insufficient attention” to access to justice, pointing towards the fact that India hasn’t yet ratified “UN conventions on torture, rights of migrant workers and their families, and protection against enforced disappearance.” Calling it a “serious lacuna” it adds, one would also need to look into factors like the need to handle “major emerging challenges such as urbanisation, the housing deficit, access to power, water, education and health care.”

*Development educator and practicing OD professional with the voluntary sector, co-founder of Ahmedabad-based Centre for Social Justice, which works on access of justice. Source: Citizens’ Report on Third year of the NDA Government -2017 – Promises and Reality, Civil Society Initiative, coordinated by Wada Na Todo Abhiyan

Comments

TRENDING

Crucial to revisit roots, embrace core Hindu principles: love, compassion, harmony

A note on religious leaders'  Satya Dharam Samvad in Haridwar: *** In a groundbreaking gathering, more than 25 religious leaders including Swamis, Acharyas, Pujaris, Gurus, and Sadhvis from all over India convened to discuss the tenets of Hinduism on September 16th, 2023, in Haridwar, to discuss and discern the current trajectory of Hinduism. This brand new initiative, the Satya Dharam Samvad, was inspired to organize its first assembly in response to the December 2021 Dharma Sansad, where hate speech and calls for violence against the Muslim community contravened the essential principles of Hinduism. Religion is being used to incite riots among Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, etc. In the face of such hatred, Swami Raghavendra felt that something meaningful should be done in the present climate. 

Commodification of road accident deaths: The hidden health hazard of motonormativity

By Chandra Vikash*  Jahnavi Kandula, an Indian student from Andhra Pradesh, studying in America was killed in a road accident by a police motor car in January 2023. Now, 8 months after the accident, a bodycam video of Daniel Orderer, who is the vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, has gone viral on social media. He was laughing at her death and saying that “she was 26 years old, anyway… she had limited value… just give her $11,000 (ie Rs 9.13 lakh)”.

Telengana peasant uprising 1946-51: Path breaking period in Communist movement

By Harsh Thakor  Telengana armed struggle from 1946-51 was path breaking period in the Indian Communist Movement, enabling it to reject the Russian insurrectionist path and emulate the Chinese model. The intensity of the movement escalated people’s democratic power to a scale unparalleled in Indian history. It literally dawned a new era. Revolutionary zeal climbed heights rarely traversed in semi-colonies. The death defying spirit which the comrades displayed in giving a blow to the Nizam ruler of Hyderabad and the Razakar landlords will be written forever in the red letters of history. Tragically it was crushed by the Congress party led by Nehru, who mercilessly ordered the army to swoop on the rebellion, with the Communist Party of India adopting a compromising position. It was ample proof of how Nehru and the Congress party collaborated with the feudal landlord class.

Inside Indian energy-mining giant Vedanta's campaign to weaken environmental rules

By Akshay Deshmane  It was 2021 and the COVID-19 pandemic was ripping through India, crippling the country’s health system and bringing the economy to a standstill. But for Anil Agarwal, chairman of the energy and mining giant Vedanta Resources Ltd, the crisis presented an opportunity.

Job opportunity in unexplored territory... to bulldoze hurdles on way to Akhand Aryavart

By Abdul Puncharwala*  Baba and Mama the Jai-Veeru Jodi of Shuddh desi politics bring an excellent opportunity of employment to all the bright matriculate drop-outs busy with their Insta and YouTube reels. Keep your phones aside for a moment and read this advert carefully. It is going to change your life forever.

Abrogation of Art 370: Increasing alienation, relentless repression, simmering conflict

One year after the abrogation by the Central Government of Art. 370 in Kashmir, what is the situation in the Valley. Have the promises of peace, normalcy and development been realised? What is the current status in the Valley? Here is a detailed note by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties , “Jammu & Kashmir: One Year after Abrogation of Art. 370: Increasing Alienation, Relentless Repression, Simmering Conflict”:

Regretful: Kapil Dev retired not leaving Indian cricket with integrity he upheld

By Harsh Thakor  Kapil Dev scaled heights as an entertainer and a player upholding the spirit of the game almost unparalleled in his era. In his time he was cricket’s ultimate mascot of sportsmanship On his day Kapil could dazzle in all departments to turn the tempo of game in the manner of a Tsunami breaking in. He radiated r energy, at a level rarely scaled in his era on a cricket field. Few ever blended aggression with artistry so comprehenisively. Although fast medium, he could be as daunting with the ball as the very best, with his crafty outswinger, offcutter, slower ball and ball that kicked from a good length. Inspite of bowling on docile tracks on the subcontinent, Kapil had 434 scalps, with virtually no assistance. I can never forget how he obtained pace and movement on flat pancakes, trapping the great Vivian Richards in Front or getting Geoff Boycott or Zaheer Abbas caught behind. No paceman carried the workload of his team’s bowling attack on his shoulders in his eras muc

Informal efforts to help children of remote Bundelkhand village unable to go to school

By Bharat Dogra  Rajaram Ka Purva is a remote rural hamlet in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh inhabited by the poorest of the poor. Almost none of the children in this hamlet are able to go to school. The reasons relate to poverty, distance of the nearest school as well as the unsafe path to school.

Understanding universe, time, space: A crucial, unresolved question before humanity

By Prof Sudhanshu Tripathi*  A crucial question before humanity, still unresolved, is to comprehend the true nature and expanse of Time and Space in Universe. If both are indeed limitless, there is no question then to go beyond them. Because both Time and Space are indeed the two key determinants in this mundane world which define the very expanse of the life period of all living organisms and non-living entities and their relative spatial area producing mental and extra-mental consciousness. 

2024 elections in India: An agenda for justice, peace, democracy and environment

By Bharat Dogra  As debates leading up to 2024 union elections in India preceded by some important state assembly become intense, it is not enough to talk about election alignments among various political parties and their seat adjustments; the questions relating to the most important priorities and a future agenda based on justice, equality, peace, environment protection and democracy must get the most importance.