Justice Delayed Justice Denied

Author(s): Sushree Sriya Bihari

Paper Details: Volume 3, Issue 3

Citation: IJLSSS 3(3) 13

Page No: 187 – 193

ABSTRACT

Indian is a democratic country where judiciary work as a strong pillar of the democracy. Our Constitution, Preamble, Acts, Laws etc. are focus on the fairness of justice but where with the delay in justice it compromises with the fairness of the judgement. The legal maxim “Justice Delayed is justice Denied”, it states that often delay in justice resulted in no justice at all. By delay in justice system, it hampers the public trust in the judicial system and encourage the culprit to evade from the eyes of the law and empowers gross injustice in the society. In some case the justice was delivered after the death of the person who filled the suit in the court, then there is what kind of justice was served where the person who seeks the justice is not alive. But we must take into consider another legal maxim that is “Justice Hurried is Justice Buried”. So, for maintaining fairness in the justice delivery the court must maintain balance and not be affected by the unnecessary hurdles while delivering the justice. This article is focused on dangers which is faced by the delay in justice, number of pending cases. Examples of the delay in justice, suggestion to overcome from this problem.

[ KEYWORDS- Justice, Court, Delay, Denied, Pendency, Constitution, Judicial]

INTRODUCTION

The legal maxim Justice delayed is justice denied means when there is a delay in the justice delivery system it equals no justice at all. The Indian courts are overburdened with the pending cases it ultimately reflected on delay in justice delivery. Now there is a thought in the society that if we go to the court for the resolution of dispute then it will waste our time and money and we will not get justice in time. The poor people who suffer from injustice don’t want to go to the court for justice because they thought there was no guarantee they would get justice or not but in the process of getting justice they will lose a lot of time and lots of money. Sometimes it has been seen that people lose money more than they recover from the justice system.

Occasionally, the disposal of cases takes many years. This is a major weakness in the judicial system. It represents a failure of social justice when a father files a case in the court and, after his death, his grandson eventually receives relief. similar detainments in justice frustrate the true purpose of justice. However, it loses its significance and undermines the conception of social justice, if justice is not handed in a timely manner. When someone comes to court to seek justice for their legal rights, it’s the court’s duty to cover those rights instantly. Detainments in that protection lead to injustice. The main reason for detainments in civil action is the complicated procedures set out in the Civil Procedure Code of 1908, along with an inviting number of cases, which the current number of judges cannot adequately handle. The number of pending cases in India is adding at a concerning rate every day, leaving petitioners with little stopgap that their cases will do snappily.

EFFECTS OF DELAY IN JUSTICE

The Indian judicial system moto is to provide justice to all its citizens. The justice system is established to protect the rights of every individual. Delay justice which reflects in justice denial affect the provision of the Indian constitution. The dangers of delay in justice are discussed below

AFFECT THE PUBLIC TRUST IN THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM

When people approach the court to get justice and there, they seen delay in the justice and even sometimes people die before getting justice and sometimes they lose all of their money in the process of getting justice thereafter they lose the trust on the judicial system. When after struggling a lot to get justice they face a delay in justice delivery, after that they will not approach the court for solutions, which will negatively impact the thought of the people in the society.

Witnesses not appear in the court

Delay is justice affect the mind of the witnesses, they don’t appear in the court because they thought the court process as complex, time taking, very slow and lengthy. In many circumstances due to delay in justice at the time of the summon to the witnesses, the witness may not be alive or the address of the witness cannot be found.

The culprit or the accused get the chance to mislead the court

Delay in justice helps the culprit or the accused to tamper the evidence or gave threats to the victims to withdraw the case and encourage the out of court settlement which increases the injustice in the society. Sometimes delays takes many years at the time of justice the culprit or accused may not be alive.

In recent years a case of a 90-year-old Indian villager was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of 10 people in a caste crime that occurred 42 years ago. Families of the victims believe the court’s decision is too late to have any significance for them. This is an example of “justice delayed, justice denied.” In this case 9 out of 10 accused were died in the course of justice delivery.

Parties who file the case faces mental and physical agony

When resolution of case takes many years of time then the parties face mental and physical agony by attending the court session again and again and returning home with the dissatisfaction. For example- when a poor people file a case in the court and it takes more delays then they lose the money and mental stability by attending the court proceedings and not getting any fruit for a long time. This is the reason why poor people in maximum cases don’t want to file the case and compromise with the culprit and their situations.

CASES PENDING IN INDIA

There are two types of cases, one is civil case and another one is criminal case. As per 2025 National Judicial Data Grid Report, the total no. of pending cases of all type of cases and at the all level of courts rose above 52 million, including over 1,80,000 court cases pending for more than 30years in district and high courts[1]. 45million out of 52 million cases that is more than 85% of cases are pending in the district courts alone[2].

PENDENCY OF CASES IN THE SUPREME COURT: AN ANALYSIS FROM JANUARY 2019 TO JANUARY 2025

Source: – Supreme Court Observer[3]

Day by day the pendency of cases in India increasing rather decreasing. The significant reason for delay in justice delivery is the pending of cases in India.

EXAMPLES OF JUSTICE DELAYED

Nirbhaya Case

Along with Justice Bhushan and Justice A. S. Bopanna, Justice R. Bahumathi headed a three-judge bench that rendered a decision in the Nirbhaya case[4]. Convictions were given to all four males for the gang rape and homicide that took place in 2012. Seven years after the heinous crime, they were finally executed. This incident fueled widespread agitation in society and caused the youngsters to lose faith in India’s judicial system.

Following this incident, several reforms were made, including the Criminal Amendment Act of 2013 sometimes referred to as the Antirape Act. This amendment included stalking, acid attacks, and voyeurism among other crimes to the definition of rape. Even the danger of rape is now regarded as a crime and perpetrators will be punished. Because of the increase in cases, the minimum term for rape was raised from seven years to ten years. The minimum sentence was increased to 20 years in cases where the victim perished or was still in a vegetative condition.

L. N Mishra Murde case[5]

The then law minister was killed in a bomb blast, the accused committed the crime at the age of 27years but at the time of punishment he was turned 66years. The case was taken 40years to reach at the judgement.

Ayodhya Ram Mandir Case

This is one of the oldest cases, the verdict of which came on 9^th November 2019 after 28years. The dispute created regional discrimination between Hindu and Muslim because the dispute was on the construction of Ram Mandir at the site where once the Babri Masjid stood.

Om Prakash v. Union of India

Supreme Court: While discussing the current case, the Division Bench of M.M. Sundresh and Aravind Kumar noted the serious injustice caused by the judicial system’s ongoing failure to recognize and act on the constitutional requirement regarding the plea of juvenility in this situation[6]. They allowed the appeal and overturned the sentence given to the appellant, which exceeded the upper limit for culpable homicide classified as murder in 1994. The Court found that the appellant had spent nearly 25 years in prison. During this time, society has changed significantly, which the appellant might not be aware of and could struggle to adapt to. Therefore, the Court instructed the Uttarakhand State Legal Services Authority to take an active role in identifying any welfare programs from the State or Central Government. This aims to help the appellant’s rehabilitation and smooth reintegration into society upon release, focusing especially on his right to work, housing, and basic needs as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution[7].

SUGGESTIONS TO TACKLE THE PROBLEM OF DELAY JUSTICE

Improve the efficiency of district and lower courts

To eliminate delay in justice delivery, the initiatives must be taken from the foundation levels. Most significant reason of delay justice is the overburdened cases in the lower or district courts, so, these courts needs to became efficient to dispose the pending cases in speedy and effective manner to escape from the delay in justice.

Increase in the number of appointments of the judicial officers

With the overburdened cases in the courts, there are no sufficient number of judges to dispose off the cases. To deal with this problem there must be increase in the judicial capacity and filling of the vacancy is needed.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

To decrease the over burden of the courts, most effective and efficient way out is to encourage the disputant party to engage in the out of court settlement i.e. alternative dispute resolutions. The ADR mechanism includes arbitration, mediation, conciliation, negotiation, Lok Adalat and so on. The small and civil cases can be resolved through the ADR mechanism without increasing the burden of the courts. Now a days the demand of online dispute resolution in increasing rapidly. This is the easiest and accessible platform to resolve the dispute without travelling to the court again and again.

Case Management

Case management is an important area that has been overlooked by court administration. It involves organizing a case systematically, from its start to its resolution. Indian courts often grant adjournments during trials, which allows the parties to take more times which causes delay in the resolution of the cases. Effective case management is vital to speed up the justice delivery.

Setting up of the regional branch of the Supreme Court

By taking into consideration the number of pending cases in the Supreme Court, to resolve that problem there must be a regional branch of the apex court by which the resolution of case must be speed up and the public trust must be maintained in the judicial system.

CONCLUSION

The judiciary is always accused of delaying justice, but the law, especially the procedure that judges are expected to follow, has loopholes in it. Changes to the law that benefit society are not being proposed by sections of the society-mostly the politicians. They also have a manner of pressuring judges, magistrates, and police officers to act for their favor. Because of these things, the delay in justice takes place. So, the question arises, can instant justice take place of delayed justice? Inability to provide justice shows the failure of the state to protect its citizens. The notion that just outcomes could arise through hasty justice is evidently a myth. Instant justice does not assure fairness and correctness. The thing that we most need is justice of fairness and prompt, appropriate response.

The legal system has to strike a balance between the quality of justice and the speed in which it is delivered. Otherwise, timely fire will cause crime rates to soar. The reform of the existing judicial system needs to be taken up as a collective effort of the government, court administration, and public. Immediate change is the real need today; no system can be altered without the cooperation of the government, the judiciary, and all the citizens of the country. E-Courts are said to be one of the remedies for speedy and timely justice.

REFERENSES

Dalmia Ananya (2023), The impact of pending court cases on the efficacy of the judicial system in India: “Justice delayed is Justice denied”., IJSSER 2023, Vol. 8
www.njdg.ecourts.in/njdgnew/?=main/pend _dashboard
Gupta Bhavya, Agrawal Arush, Justice delayed justice denied.
Harjai Manish (2020), “Justice delayed is justice denial: with special reference to judicial pronouncements in India”, IJEMMASSS, Vol.2
Bohra Hemant (2021), “Is justice delayed, Justice denied? Analysing the constitutionality and right to a speedy trial”, Chanakya law Review, Vol. II
https://www.scobserver.in/journal/January-2025-pendency-increases-by-over-2600-compared-to-last-january/ (accessed on 16^th June 2025)
https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2025/01/14/plea-of-juvenility-convict-25years-prison-release-sc-legal-news/ (accessed on 16^th June 2025)

[1] National Judicial Data Grid, available at; https://njdg.ecourts.gov.in/njdgnew/?p=main, accessed in 16^th June, 2025.

[2] ibid

[3] January 2025: Pendency increases by over 2600 compared to last January, available at: https://www.scobserver .in/journal/January-2025-pendency-increases-by-over-2600-compared-to-last-january/

[4] Mukesh v. State (NCT of Delhi), (2017) 6 SCC 1

[5] Sudevnanda v. State (2012) 3 SCC 387

[6] https://www.scconline.com /blog/post/2025/01/14/plea-of-juvenility-convict-25years-prison-release-sc-legal-news/, accessed in 16^th June 2025

[7] ibid