Reformation of the Judiciary System

Appointment System:

• Vacancies must be filled immediately and it is necessary to establish an appropriate timeline for the appointment of judges and to provide the suggestions in advance.
• Another significant element that can unquestionably aid India in developing a better judicial system is the All India Judicial Services (AIJS).

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Increased use of technology:

• Virtual hearings were already tested during the COVID-19 period, and there is no reason why they cannot be made more institutional.
• The courts should consider this as a long-term solution rather than merely an emergency, urgent remedy.
• Additionally, it can be necessary to acknowledge the arrival of technology and set up all of its components to handle it.

Increase the number of judges:

• The first step is to raise the number of judges at every level, ideally by three, and at least by two.
• India needs to make a number of modifications, and filling all the open positions is the most important one in resolving the country’s major judicial competence issue.
• More judge openings are required, especially at the lowest levels of the judicial system.

Separate judicial and administrative tasks:

• The majority of administrative responsibilities should be handled by the agency to free up judges’ time, which should primarily be used for their area of expertise i.e. judicial functions.

Proper Investigation:

• India lacks an investigation policy, which leads to many innocent people being wrongfully charged and punished.
• This fact has been demonstrated in numerous cases. Legendary scientist Nambi
• Narayanan is in charge of India’s efforts to develop a cryogenic rocket engine at the Indian Space Research Organization. In 1994, he was wrongly accused of disclosing technical information about the project.
• He was imprisoned for fifty days and claimed to have been tortured.
• He was exonerated in 1998 after a CBI inquiry. However, it damaged his reputation and left his life in complete turmoil.

Innovative Solutions:

• The solution to clearing the massive backlog of cases requires more than just appointing more judges; it also requires innovative solutions.
• For example, creating new courts of appeal, researching IT solutions that can streamline workflow, and upgrading courtroom facilities are some ways to move past the current backlog.

Better District Courts:

• The district courts are the primary area of concern in India’s need for judicial reform, which requires a bottom-up strategy.
• Numerous cases are still outstanding in the lower courts, thus more judges need to be appointed to the district courts to cope with the backlog.
• For the purpose of adding more trial courts at the intermediate Panchayat level, the Gram Nyayalayas Bill was enacted.

Case management:

• It is a methodical way to keep an eye on resources and cases as they go through the legal system, it may be possible to improve management by altering the court’s rules regarding evidence and process as well as the number of delays, and adjournments. 
• The data or records of each judge for the disposal of cases should be made public.

UPSC Article related to Judiciary in India

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The Indian judiciary is regarded as one of the strongest judiciaries in the entire world. The structure of the Indian judiciary is provided by the Constitution of India, and it also serves as a watchdog of the Indian Constitution and defends fundamental rights.

As India uses the oldest legal system which retains many of the characteristics that the British judicial system left behind. It adheres to the “common law system” of legal jurisdiction; common law is the body of law created by judges and it controls subsequent judgments. 

However, there are some intrinsic issues with our legal and judicial system, which expose its flaws and shortcomings and call for quick adjustments and accountability. There are seven times more judges per 100,000 persons in the USA than in India.

The criminal cases in India would take more than 30 years to resolve and civil cases would never be resolved at the current rate of disposition. Some of the major challenges faced by the Indian Judicial system are: