INTRODUCTION
“Yato Dharmastato Jaya” means “Where there is Dharma, there is victory”. The Motto of the Supreme Court clearly shows that Judicial Independence is the barricading of our dynamic system. It gives vitality to the words of legislators who framed the Indian Constitution with a vision. Justice is that harmless weapon in the hands of people which if lost would shatter the society to pieces. Hence the Judiciary is empowered to become the voice of the people and to impart a sense of freedom within the society.
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA- THE KEEPER OF JUSTICE, EQUITY AND GOOD CONSCIENCE
With the advancement of time and keeping at a pace with the revolutionary changes that are occurring worldwide, our Indian Society has taken a major blow as well. Age-old laws, beliefs, lifestyle, and customs are all taking a leap and requires major improvisation. Legislators, Administrators, and Judiciary have been constantly realising the need for an hour and striving hard to maintain balance, nationally and internationally.
Supreme Court of India, the watchdog of our rights is often reached out to raise its voice when people are losing their faith in the system. Constitution of India is the Grundnorm of Indian Society, it sets out the ultimate goal below which derogation is neither possible nor allowed. Every law, legislation, judgment, and rule framed must be in line with the essential spirit of our Constitution. The primary duty to adhere to the Constitution is of the Supreme Court. The constitution itself has given vast powers to the Supreme Court to maintain the sanctity of legislative intent behind the constitutional framework.
India works on the principle of Rule of law which can function effectively only when access to justice is readily available. Justice is that basic resource which every individual must have access to in order to stabilise. Injustice, unfairness to another or violation of one’s rights would only result in instability. The Supreme Court is thus given the agenda of keeping checks and balances in the ever-evolving Indian society.
Justice is one of the essential traits of our Constitution as envisaged in the Preamble and Supreme Court is basically a medium to enforce the common will of the people. If the Judiciary gets biased and starts to create difference the light of justice would fade away and the faith of the people would be lost forever. The most important function of the Judiciary is the Administration of Justice for the upliftment of society.
THE TUSSLE BETWEEN THE JUDICIARY AND LEGISLATURE
It is very well said that the excellence of the judiciary is the measure of excellence of its government. Though the two always strive to have the ball in their court but in the Indian Political democratic setup, independence of the two organs is very essential. Supreme Court though many a time takes suo moto cognizance on matters of public importance and where grave injustice could be witnessed, it does not empower it to intermeddle with the work of the legislature. Supreme Court hold the power to refrain itself from any matter involving law and order situation and thereby confer its forbearance on the authorities concerned.
THE INTERRELATION OF JUSTICE WITH POVERTY
Barriers to access to justice are very strong in developing countries and primarily amongst the poorest crowd. Discrimination, inequality, lack of legal awareness and corruption often weaken the justice delivery system and have a direct impact on poor people. Those who lack the resources to access the legal system often face the brunt. They are exploited by corrupt government officials and still, their path toward justice remains blurred. For example, In India, there is very less discussion on bringing the socio-economic profile of the death row prisoners as a mitigating factor while awarding them capital punishment. As a result of which there is empirical evidence now that a vast majority of India’s death row prisoners are extremely poor and often do not receive competent legal representation. The Apex Constitutional body must press upon the need to have proper representation of the needy. The access to justice must be smooth for those who believe it to be far-reaching.
GROWTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF SUPREME COURT
Supreme court of India flared up with decades of improvement and has earned the title of “The most powerful court in the world”. It conferred its primacy in judicial appointments by way of the collegium system and expanded its horizons using its power of judicial review thereby intervening in the arbitrary use of power by the executive. With time the Supreme Court emerged as the last ray of hope in the eyes of the public, who were earlier blindly trusting the political leaders. Judiciary in turn came out as an activist to compensate for the inactiveness of the executive. Recently Supreme Court also introduced an Artificial Intelligence Portal named SUPACE (Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Courts Efficiency) aiming at equipping the machines to deal with a vast amount of data that is received at the time of filing of cases. It would reduce manpower and would result in the speedy and effective delivery of justice to those decades of pending cases. In 2020, the Supreme Court developed software called, SCI-Interact, to make all its 17 benches paperless. This software helps Judges access files, and annexures to petitions and make notes on computers. In November 2019, the Apex Court launched an indigenously engineered neural translation tool, SUVAAS, to translate judicial orders and rulings from English to vernacular languages faster and efficiently.
MAJOR LANDMARK DECISION TAKEN BY SUPREME COURT TO IMPART JUSTICE
- Kerala Union of Working Journalists V. Union of India. (2021 SC)- SC held that even an Undertrial Prisoner has an unconditional fundament right to life.
- Satbir Singh V. State of Haryana (2021) Guidelines drafted for Dowry Death Trials. The Court held that while interpreting Section 304-B IPC, the legislative intent to curb the social evil of bride burning and dowry demand should be kept in mind. The Bench, therefore, laid down guidelines for Dowry Death trials in the lower courts.
- Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalavaru V. State of Kerala, 1973- The Basic Structure Doctrine was founded by the largest bench of the Supreme Court.
- Shayara Bano vs Union of India & Others, 2017- the Apex Court declared Triple Talaq to be Unconstitutional and imposed a ban on its usage. Its use in any form would be considered illegal.
- Navtej Singh Johar V. Union of India, 2018- The court allowed consensual relationships among the individuals of the LGBT community which made it one of the historic Supreme Court judgments. Supreme Court also made it clear that the choice of LGBT persons to enter into physical relationships with persons of the same sex is their choice. They are equally entitled to the enforcement of their Fundamental Rights.
- Subhash Kumar V. State of Bihar– The right to live is a fundamental right under Article 21 and includes the right to the enjoyment of pollution-free water and air.
- The Nibhaya gang Rape wherein justice was imparted after 8 years of legal battles and struggles faced by the victim’s family.
CONCLUSION
The Supreme Court is seen as a final and last resort when aggrieved party losses all its hope and yet strives to keep within itself a ray of justice. The Indian Legal System is so complicated and diverse that justice is not easily sought. It takes decades of procedural work and several recourses are available to the accused which many a time acts as a hurdle in imparting speedy justice yet the judiciary is all about maintaining balance. Courts are examples of weighing both parties at par until one is proven guilty. Supreme Court consists of intellectual minds that believe in imparting justice with a rationale. An emotional bent of heart or keeping in sight the devastating condition of the party must not become a factor while deciding a case as it might be wrong. The principles of Natural Justice must be followed to impart justice and to set a landmark for the society at large.
The Supreme Court has never failed us to illustrate its supremacy by giving major landmark decisions such as the Aadhaar Case ( Right to Privacy of an Individual is a Fundamental right), and the Sabrimala Temple Case whereby even the women irrespective of age were allowed entry into the temple, thus bringing them onto the same platform as men. The Supreme Court always moves one step ahead and in case of major public outrage, it even interferes in the matters of legislative or executive matters by way of forming committees headed by Supreme Court Judges. Justice is one of the goals of the Indian Judiciary and the same is paramount. Though in a country like India where there is so much diversity, at times justice gets delayed but the proactive role of the Supreme Court and other Courts aims to furnish quick, efficient and speedy justice to the aggrieved.
This article is written by Ajita Dixit, who graduated from ILS, Dehradun and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Law.