{"id":13881,"date":"2017-12-30T16:48:33","date_gmt":"2017-12-30T11:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=13881"},"modified":"2017-12-30T16:48:33","modified_gmt":"2017-12-30T11:18:33","slug":"corruption-in-indian-judiciary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/corruption-in-indian-judiciary\/","title":{"rendered":"CORRUPTION IN INDIAN JUDICIARY"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><u>Why in the news?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Recently, an FIR was filed against a retired judge of the Orissa High Court over allegations of bribery to settle a medical college recognition case in the Supreme Court.<\/li>\n<li>The FIR was filed in the <strong><u>Prasad Education Trust Case<\/u><\/strong> headed by Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra.<\/li>\n<li>The petitioner demanded that CJI stay away from taking any judicial or administrative decision.<\/li>\n<li>This led to extraordinary accusations of misconduct against India\u2019s most senior judge and corruption in judiciary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>What is Judicial Corruption?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Corruption is a form of dishonest or unethical conduct by a person entrusted with a position of authority, often to acquire personal benefit.<\/li>\n<li>Corruption may include many activities including bribery and embezzlement.<\/li>\n<li>Judicial corruption is inimical to judicial independence and to the constitutionally desired social order.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Definition of Corruption\u00a0 according to the Prevention of Corruption Act:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><u>The Prevention of Corruption Act 1988:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>The Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 <\/u><\/strong>is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to combat corruption in government agencies and public sector businesses in India.<\/li>\n<li>This law defines\u00a0who<strong><u> a public servant is and punishes public servants involved in corruption or bribery.\u201d <\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It also punishes anyone who helps him or her commit the crime corruption or bribery.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>What crimes are punished by this law?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When a public servant <strong><u>accepts money or gifts<\/u><\/strong> <strong><u>over and above their salary<\/u><\/strong>, <strong><u>in return for favoring a person in their official duty.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>When a <strong><u>public servant accepts gifts from a person with whom they have a business or official relationship without paying them.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>When a public servant is <strong><u>guilty of criminal misconduct<\/u><\/strong> such as regularly accepting bribes to favor people during their official duty.<\/li>\n<li>If any person accepts money or gifts in return <strong><u>for influencing the public servant by using his personal connection or through illegal or corrupt methods, this person can also be punished.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Any person helping the public servant commit these crimes can also be\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nyaaya.in\/law-explainers\/anti-corruption\/\">punished<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It also punishes anyone who helps him or her commit the crime corruption or bribery.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Reasons for Judicial Corruption in India:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Judicial Corruption exists because <strong><u>public trials are almost never heard by the public.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Lack of accountability<\/u><\/strong> breeds corruption.<\/li>\n<li>Judicial accountability is as important as\u00a0<strong>accountability of the executive<\/strong>or\u00a0<strong>legislature<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Judicial accountability promotes at least\u00a0<strong><u>three discrete values<\/u><\/strong><u>:\u00a0<strong>the rule of law<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>public confidence in the judiciary<\/strong>, and\u00a0<strong>institutional responsibility<\/strong>.<\/u><\/li>\n<li><strong>The regular evaluation of judicial performance<\/strong>is a springboard for ensuring greater judicial accountability, but unfortunately India do not have any\u00a0<strong>institutional mechanism<\/strong>\u00a0yet to do this.<\/li>\n<li>Judges become corrupt when they enjoy absolute power and their strong personal agendas dominates over merit of the case.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Corruption in lower courts:<\/u><\/strong> India\u2019s judicial corruption is a cancer that begins at the lower levels and inches its way up.<\/li>\n<li>According to the <strong><u>Global Corruption Report 2007, <\/u><\/strong>t<strong><u>he perception of corruption is higher in India and Pakistan in comparison to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. <\/u><\/strong>In Pakistan, 55 per cent of the respondents said the judiciary was corrupt.<\/li>\n<li>A <strong><u>Transparency International report released in 2007<\/u><\/strong> showed that 77 % per cent of respondents in a survey in India believe the judiciary is corrupt.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Corruption in higher courts:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>India\u2019s higher court judges are selected from lower court judges and lawyers; there is always a possibility of corrupt judges making it to higher courts.<\/li>\n<li>Judges at the highest level use their \u201ccontempt of court\u201d power to suppress allegations of corruption.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Cumbersome impeachment proceedings. <\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>No judge has so far been impeached, in spite of serious charges of misconduct or corruption has been raised against some judges.<\/li>\n<li>The lengthy and cumbersome impeachment provision is, thus, not an\u00a0<strong>effective tool<\/strong>to ensure <strong>judicial accountability<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Since independence, only three judges have ever faced impeachment for misappropriating public funds.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong><u>Judges Inquiry Bill<\/u><\/strong>included willful and persistent failure to perform duties within the definition of \u2018misconduct\u2019.<\/li>\n<li>Apart from impeachment, there is\u00a0<strong>no<\/strong><strong>mechanism<\/strong>\u00a0to make\u00a0<strong>judges accountable or evaluate their performance<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Excessive delay:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>India has the world\u2019s largest backlog of cases.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>For 1.7 billion people in India, there are 31 judges in the SC and 1,079 in high courts.<\/li>\n<li>There are never more than 600 judges in the High Court appointed at any point.<\/li>\n<li>As of April 2017, there were 430 posts of judges and additional judges lying vacant in high courts, and 5,000 posts vacant at the district level and lower.<\/li>\n<li>For 2017-18, the Union budget allocated a meagre Rs 1,744 crore to the judiciary \u2014 about 0.4 per cent of the total budget.<\/li>\n<li>Indian judiciary is facing institutional crisis on account of the most ferocious attack ever on the judiciary by the executive.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Nepotism in judicial appointment is also one of the reason for corruption in judiciary.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>The legal framework to curb corruption:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Indian Penal Code (IPC):<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Various sections of the <strong><u>Indian Penal Code (IPC)<\/u><\/strong> provide criminal punishment for public servants who disobey relevant laws or procedures, frame incorrect or improper documents, unlawfully engage in trade, or abuse their position or discretion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>The Prevention of Money Laundering Act:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002<\/u><\/strong> seeks to prevent money laundering including laundering of property through corruption and provides for confiscation of such a property.<\/li>\n<li>It mainly targets banks, financial institutions and intermediaries such stock market intermediaries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Right to Information (RTI) Act:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>The Right to Information (RTI), 2005<\/u><\/strong> Act represents one of the country\u2019s most critical achievements in the fight against corruption.<\/li>\n<li>Under the provisions of the Act, any citizen may request information from a public authority which is required to reply within 30 days.<\/li>\n<li>The Act also requires every public authority to computerize its records for wide dissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of information for easy citizen access.<\/li>\n<li>This act provides citizens with a mechanism to control public spending.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>The Institutional Framework to curb corruption<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There are various bodies in place for implementing anti-corruption policies and raising awareness on corruption issues.<\/li>\n<li>At the federal level, key institutions include the Supreme Court, <strong><u>the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC),the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Office of the Controller &amp; Auditor General (C&amp;AG), and the Chief Information Commission (CIC).<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>At the State level, there are <strong><u>local anti-corruption bureaus<\/u><\/strong> such as the Anti-corruption Bureau of Maharashtra.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Failure to curb corruption:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Failure to enforce laws:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>India lacks by poor enforcement of laws, even where the laws are good.<\/li>\n<li>Data analysed by the <strong><u>Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)<\/u><\/strong> shows that between 2001 and 2015 the government\u2019s <strong><u>National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)<\/u><\/strong> documented the registration of 91 million offences across the country, punishable under the Indian Penal Code and various special laws.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Inefficiency of institutional frameworks:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The institutional anti-corruption framework generally suffers from a <strong><u>lack of coordination, and overlapping and conflicting mandates between institutions addressing corruption.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Key institutions often <strong><u>lack the staff and resources<\/u><\/strong> to fulfill their principles adequately and struggle to protect themselves from political interference.<\/li>\n<li>Influential politicians and senior officials are rarely convicted for corruption, eroding public confidence in the political will to effectively tackle corruption.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Thievery and Bribery:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Thievery is common in real estate.<\/li>\n<li>It is common for a property developer to flout regulation through bribery.<\/li>\n<li>This indicate severe lack of public confidence in the ability of the anti-corruption agencies to probe a complaint of corruption, collect evidence and put the case up for trial.<\/li>\n<li>Bribery and Thievery are only two forms of corruption. The PCA recognizes various offences as corruption.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Limitations for the Whistle Blowers:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 2015, the government had introduced a bill in the parliament to amend the 2011 act.<\/p>\n<p>The key criticisms of this bill are as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Whistleblowers should not be allowed to reveal any documents classified under the\u00a0<strong><u>Official Secrets Act of 1923,<\/u><\/strong> even if the purpose is to disclose acts of corruption, misuse of power or criminal activities.<\/li>\n<li>It also puts a restriction on disclosure of any information that could prejudicially affect the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India and good relations with foreign State.<\/li>\n<li>The bill puts bars on the activity of whistle blowing in such a way that only some information obtained through RTI etc. has been kept in its ambit.<\/li>\n<li>The bill says that the whistleblowers would be entitled to official protection only if these conditions are met; and they could face action if they are not.<\/li>\n<li>The amendment Bill seeks to remove immunity provided to whistle-blowers from prosecution under the draconian <strong><u>Official Secrets Act (OSA)<\/u><\/strong> for disclosures made under the <strong><u>Whistleblower Protection law.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Suggestions:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Improvements to <strong><u>contempt of court and impeachment proceedings.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Improvement in <strong><u>judicial infrastructure.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Enforcing <strong><u>integrity codes of judges<\/u><\/strong> and lawyers<\/li>\n<li>Extending the <strong><u>Right to Information Act<\/u><\/strong> to cover the judiciary.<\/li>\n<li>Opening judicial vacancies to <strong><u>qualified legal scholars.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Using <strong><u>alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Use of <strong><u>modern technology.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>A review of how court records are handled and the introduction of modern tracking methods can eliminate much of petty corruption existing in lower courts<\/li>\n<li>Websites and CDs can explain basic law to laymen<\/li>\n<li>Court files can be computerized<\/li>\n<li>Video recordings of court proceedings should be maintained<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Judicial reforms: <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There is urgent need of judicial reforms and justice delivery system. Time bound disposal of cases and disputes.<\/li>\n<li>In order to reduce the pendency of cases, the Government is in the process of drafting<strong><u>National Litigation Policy<\/u><\/strong><u>. <\/u><\/li>\n<li>The Government has also suggested\u00a0<strong><u>audio-video recording of court proceedings<\/u><\/strong><u><\/u>which is meant to bring transparency in the justice delivery system and accountability in conduct of judges who allow too many adjournments.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Protection of whistleblowers: <\/u><\/strong>Effective protection of whistleblowers will support an open enterprise culture where employees not only have confidence in reporting but also aware of the reporting procedures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Creating transparency: <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It will provide less opportunity for malfeasance and abuse.<\/li>\n<li>The need is to bring CJI under RTI.<\/li>\n<li>Judiciary needs to ensure Open Court System and make judgment audible.<\/li>\n<li>Curbing political interference in judicial appointments.<\/li>\n<li>The steps like <strong><u>Lok Adalat, e-court, digitalization of courts, National Crime and Criminal Records, e-records of courts cases<\/u><\/strong> and coordination among courts using big data etc can be useful.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Educating ethical and moral values: <\/u><\/strong>The country needs to develop a sense of moral character in citizens, starting with the family, and all other institutions in society.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Remove nepotism in judicial appointment.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Judges accountability:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Judges must be subject to judicial review.<\/li>\n<li>Judges must follow a code of conduct.<\/li>\n<li>Bar associations must act against corrupt members.<\/li>\n<li>A public body must keep an eye on the judicial system.<\/li>\n<li>An Indian judicial service must be created.<\/li>\n<li>The proposed National Judicial Commission should have powers to remove judges.<\/li>\n<li>Judges should declare their assets and those of their family.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Reduce the gap<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Provide alternative methods of dispute redressal to lighten burden on courts.<\/li>\n<li>Increase number of judicial officers and number of fast track courts.<\/li>\n<li>Create a vigilance cell for redressal of public grievances.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Recent developments:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Collegium system:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Supreme Court has evolved the\u00a0collegium system.<\/li>\n<li>The collegium system has ensured theindependence of the judiciary.<\/li>\n<li>It provides keeping the\u00a0final power of appointmentin the hands of the CJI\u00a0and\u00a0a collegium\u00a0consisting of\u00a0senior judges.<\/li>\n<li>The collegiums system has come under lots of criticism on the grounds that it lacks objectivity and impartiality.<\/li>\n<li>As a solution, the executive sought to bring in the\u00a0<strong><u>National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC)<\/u><\/strong><u>,<\/u> which the Supreme Court has struck down.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC):<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2014, the Parliament passed\u00a0<strong><u>the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act<\/u><\/strong>and the<strong>\u00a0<u>99th Constitution Amendment Act<\/u><\/strong><u>.<\/u><\/li>\n<li>The Commission is composed of the\u00a0<strong>CJI, two senior-most judges of the Supreme Court<\/strong>, the\u00a0<strong>Law Minister\u00a0<\/strong>and<strong>two eminent persons<\/strong>, to be selected by a\u00a0<strong>selection committee<\/strong>\u00a0consisting of the\u00a0<strong>Prime Minister<\/strong>, the\u00a0<strong>CJI<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Leader of the Opposition<\/strong>\u00a0in the Lok Sabha or where<strong>\u00a0<u>no leader of Opposition<\/u><\/strong>, the\u00a0<strong><u>leader of the largest single opposition party.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Memorandum of Procedure<\/u><\/strong><u>\u00a0<strong>(MoP):<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Supreme Court directed the Executive to draft a Memorandum of Procedure ( MoP) on appointment of judges to the High Courts and the Supreme Court, in consultation with the President and the CJI.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Bill tries to lay down enforceable standards of conduct of judges.<\/li>\n<li>It also requires judges to declare details of their and their family member\u2019s assets and liabilities.<\/li>\n<li>It creates mechanisms to allow any person to complain against judges on grounds of misbehavior or incapacity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Judicial crisis in India: An overview<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Apart from judicial corruption Indian judiciary is also facing following crisis:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Supreme Court of India is facing its worst <strong><u>crisis of credibility<\/u><\/strong> since the Emergency.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Strength of judges<\/u><\/strong> in courts is lower than required to fill up the seats. This shortage leads to delay in judgment.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Frequent transfers of judges<\/u><\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>take the interest out of them to hear the cases that their successor may give judgment to, after the transfer. Such arrears mustn\u2019t exist.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Vacancies <\/u><\/strong>of judiciary aren\u2019t filled up due to unavailability of good judges.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Fast-track special courts<\/u><\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>for commercial disputes are established, thus\u00a0<strong>disregarding the poor entirely<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Appellate courts are falling short<\/u><\/strong> in dealing with the cases hence passing the burden\u00a0to civil and criminal justice system.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Higher number of holidays, lack of time management\u00a0<\/u><\/strong>is the problem which lies to the base of judiciary.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Poor\u00a0dispute resolution mechanism<\/u><\/strong><u>.<\/u><\/li>\n<li>Poor manpower and crumbling infrastructure, coupled with a boom in litigation, made the judiciary underperform.<\/li>\n<li>Filing of the <strong><u>frequent government litigation<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0keeps the courts busy instead of serving justice to the people speedily.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Frequent adjournments and indiscriminate use of writ jurisdiction.<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why in the news? Recently, an FIR was filed against a retired judge of the Orissa High Court over allegations of bribery to settle a medical college recognition case in the Supreme Court. The FIR was filed in the Prasad Education Trust Case headed by Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra. The petitioner demanded that&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/corruption-in-indian-judiciary\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">CORRUPTION IN INDIAN JUDICIARY<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":4046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-editorials","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/law.jpg?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":25,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1698339922},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}