Administration of Justice: Judicial Delays in India
| Date | 01 December 2019 |
| Published date | 01 December 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556119873451 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Administration of
Justice: Judicial
Delays in India
Tanushree Singh1
Akash Singh Thakur1
Abstract
In unique as well as comparative terms, the Indian judiciary—an integrated federal
hierarchy with federal, state and district courts set up under the Constitution—
fares better than the legislative and executive branches of the governments in
India as well as those in other countries, especially in the Global South, in terms
of impartiality, efficiency and independence. This article seeks to take a closer
analytical look at an aspect of judicial administration, which is often glossed over
in the existing literature in highlighting the issues of autonomy and constitutional
adjudication and constitutional law on fundamental rights of citizens, federal divi-
sion of powers, separation of powers, judicial review and the like. In this article
we focus on the perennial and notorious judicial delays, their causes and reme-
dial reforms. Delays in speedy disposal of cases occur mainly due to a large
number of vacancies that remain unfilled partly due to fiscal reasons, administra-
tive inaction and tension between the executive and the superior courts, lack
of adequate operational budgetary allocations and physical infrastructure and
frequent postponement of hearings until next dates set for reasons not always
genuine. We have suggested reforms in the administration of the courts as well
as alternate forums like Lok Adalats, e-judicial governance, ethical discourse in
the Bar and the Bench as well as the civil society.
Keywords
Judicial delay, judicial administration, judicial adjudication, Lok Adalat, e-governance
Article
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
65(4) 885–896, 2019
© 2019 IIPA
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DOI: 10.1177/0019556119873451
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1 Centre of Gandhian Thought and Peace Studies, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhi Nagar,
Gujarat, India.
Corresponding author:
Tanushree Singh, Centre of Gandhian Thought and Peace Studies, Central University of Gujarat,
Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat, India.
E-mail: tanushree.singh@hotmail.com
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