CHALLENGES OF INDIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
The country has been facing various loggerheads when it comes to the Indian justice system
in India. Sometimes, we can even see that peoples right of life and personal liberty which is
guaranteed by constitution is being deprived off. In enormous number of cases among which
recent one is Unnao rape case where we can see that how politicians has superseded existing
criminal law. The brief facts of this case are a teenage girl accused MLA of Unnao of raping
her year in 2017 she also tried to fire out herself outside la residence . the allegations also say
he had planned a accident which led which led death of her family members . so the judiciary
at various stages had come to the front and tried to solve the case and punish the accused by
having day to day hearing so we can see that how the executive is not able to implement the
criminal justice system properly. Various challenges of the current justice system which is
prevailing in India are as follows :
Scarcity of judges: if we talk about data there are 19 judge per 10 lakh people in our
country which is less as compared to the other countries as in USA 127 judge per 1
million people are there. it’s a big challenge to our judiciary as 37% of the sanctioned
judge’s seat are vacant in the high courts of the country.
Pendency of cases: the vidhi center for legal policy in its legal report has found that
nearly 70% of cases in Delhi high court has been decided by giving more than 3
adjournments which is against the provision of CRPC which says that a case it to be
decided in not more than three adjournments there are 43.55 lakhs case pending in
high court in which 8.5 lakhs are case which are 10-year-old. there are 1.59 lakhs case
pending in supreme court
Lack of transparency: judiciary does not come under ambit of RTI act also there is no
transparency in appointment of judges
Lack of synergy between police prosecution and judiciary: there is lack of
cooperation between the three elements without which one can’t attain an established
and fair judicial pattern of justice
Hardships of under trail in India where are there is roughly 4.25 lakhs prisoners are
undertrials which is world largest number of undertrial prisoners that not because they
have been found guilty but they had been prosecuted in charges that are non- bailable
and also bail is tough task for them
Lack of use of technology: a good technology helps to reduce the huge amount of
paper work involved there is need for better technology for recording the statement
and also CCTVs can be installed which can be used for recoveries and other related
process
Lack of fund : the central government is not taking up seriously about the current
situation of the courts throughout the countries the courts are facing shortage of basic
things such as clean water electrification, sitting arrangements, waiting area etc.
NEED OF INQUISTORIAL SYSTEM
The years old adversarial system should must be replaced by the inquisitorial system. The old
British time system of delivering justice is still being followed the accused feels safer than
that of victim who has to prove himself the guilt of accused as the accused is to be presumed
an innocent person. in adversarial system truth is supposed to be emerge from respective
versions of facts presented by the prosecution and the defense before a neutral judge. parties
in the adversarial system enjoys freedom of proof widely. However, the system needs to be
changed according to the need of masses as it has many drawbacks:
It focuses on strict ignorance of procedural law which has created very less space for state to
be biased against the accused. It focuses and favors mainly to the accused and victim role is
limited of being a witness.
An inquisitorial system is an organised process where part of the court, if not the entire court,
is actively work in an inquiry of the findings of a case. It is different from an adversarial
system where the role of the court is to be an impartial third person who only observes , or
make decisions while listening to parties .
The trial judges become inquisitors who passionately take part in public inquiries by
questioning prosecutors, and defendants. These judges can even order specific items of
evidence be examined if they feel that the presentation by any party in the case is not up to
the mark . however there are advantages of adopting an inquisitorial system :
4 It lowers the advantages of wealth inside the justice system.
in Indian societies there exist huge no of cases which are pending. This can be
ascertained to many factors. One such factor can be that there exist a huge gap
between the rich and poor. We’ve seen number of cases where rich gets bail easier as
they are able to afford good and expensive lawyers. This inquisitorial system will
eliminate such gap .
It reduces decisions against people which are driven be emotions.
According to Pacific Standard Magazine report published in year 2013 , jurors who
faces moral outrage any level during a case are more likely to convict a defendant if
we tally to those who do not witness this emotional reaction. Under an adversarial
system of justice, the aim of the prosecutor is to elicit this response when they present
a case because it increases the likelihood of a successful results. With an this system
of justice, there is another line of defence against this emotional decision-making
process. The judge can help to determine the facts of a case so that decisions are
based on logical understandings instead of emotions.
It lowers bias within the system of justice.
when many people are engaged in a legal proceedings various perspectives that are
bring down to review the situation that took place. Here chances of unintentional bias
is not present like adversarial system but in the inquisitorial system each of the parties
share and contribute their opinions and the facts decide what actually occurs instead
of biased opinion.
It is a system which does not leave anyone.
in the inquisitorial system it aims that each person should be treated equally. This
system allows no exemptions same questions is asked to everyone when there is any
case presented. And the reality of each answer is then after verified through rigorous
work that what actually happened .
It is a system which indicates independent review.
each wing will work upon each issues independently which is unique features itself .
there can be co-operation between the various individuals working a case, they are
separate teams working toward an outcome by themselves instead of together as a
4 Pros and cons of inquisitorial system available at: https://connectusfund.org/19-big-pros-and-cons-of-
inquisitorial-system
group. Some systems may needs full agreement in the results from all of the teams
working on a case before a case proceeds thereafter.
It must resolve all factual uncertainties before coming to a resolution.
This is a mechanism of continuous investigation that is conducted firstly by police
then after magistrate or the judge who serves as the lead investigator in many
systems. Because the judge(s) are placed in this role, they are tasked by the
government to exhaust every effort to settle any factual uncertainties which may exist
in a case. There must be sufficient evidence of guilt to proceed. Although in some
cases this need may lead to pressure on the defendant to confess, this system seeks to
minimize manipulation to create specific outcomes.
It allows the judicial system to play a substantial role in the proceedings.
One of the most important benefits s of the inquisitorial system is that the court
moves from being an impartial observer to an active participant. Instead of trying to
weigh the validity of both arguments or place the issue in the hands of a jury alone,
the focus is on achieving a justifiable outcome that fits the facts of the case. Even if
there are minor procedural errors which occur during the case, they can be ignored if
the purpose of achieving justice is the final outcome.
It grants freedom to defendants to tell their story.
defendants in inquisitorial gets full right to represent their case and story as system
does not degrade character of the defendants as compared to the adversarial system
Eduindex News 