justice,
43
the judicial process in India is a good example of delayed justice. As of
1 November 2011 , a total number of 56 , 383 cases were pending before the Supreme
Court.^44 More worrying, however, is the number of pending cases before the high
courts and lower courts. At the end of December 2012 , a total number of 31 , 927 , 263
cases were pending before these courts.^45 The Law Commission recently noted that
in ‘the present set-up it often takes 10 – 20 – 30 or even more years before a matter is
finally decided’.^46 This situation definitely discourages people from approaching
courts and thus denies them their right to access to justice.^47
Corruption is rampant in India, and people have started losing patience with the
status quo, as illustrated by the mass support for the anti-corruption movement led
by Anna Hazare, a social activist.^48 The 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index placed
India in 95 th position out of a total of 183 countries reviewed.^49 It is reported that
more than 50 per cent of Indians have paid bribes.^50 Due to the operation of a
parallel ‘black’ economy, it is estimated that India has lost more than US$ 460
billion since independence ‘because of companies and the rich illegally funnelling
their wealth overseas’.
51
It is fair to say that corruption – which in political and
public offices has grown to ‘alarming proportions’
52
and pervades all institutions
that make, implement and adjudicate the law
53
- seems to have become a ‘fact
of life’.
54
Numerous scams involving members of parliament, ministers, civil
servants, police officers and judges have been reported over the years. The intro-
duction of a free-market economy has seemingly not curbed corruption.
55
(^43) Hussainara Khatoonv.State of BiharAIR 1979 SC 1364 ;Common Causev.Union of India
( 1996 ) 4 SCC 33 and ( 1996 ) 6 SCC 775 ;All India Judges’ Associationv.Union of India
( 2002 ) 4 SCC 247.
(^44) Supreme Court of India, ‘Summary: types of matters in Supreme Court of India’,http://
supremecourtofindia.nic.in/outtoday/summary.pdf.
(^45) Ibid.Of these cases, 26 per cent are more than five years old.
(^46) Law Commission of India, ‘ 230 th report on reforms in the judiciary: some suggestions’
(August 2009 ), para. 1. 16.
(^47) See Marc Galanter and Jayanth Krishnan, ‘“Bread for the poor”: access to justice and the
rights of the needy in India’ ( 2004 ) 55 Hastings Law Journal 789.
(^48) See ‘India against corruption’,www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/index 1 .html.
(^49) Transparency International, ‘Corruption perceptions index 2011 ’,http://cpi.transparency.
org/cpi 2011 /results.
(^50) ‘India tops list of countries where bribery is way of life’,Times of India, 9 December 2010 ,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Corruption-on-the-rise- 54 -Indians-paid-bribe-
last-year/articleshow/ 7071768 .cms.
(^51) ‘India lost $ 462 bn in illegal capital flows, says report’, BBC News, 19 November 2010 ,www.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia- 11782795.
(^52) K.N. Gupta,Corruption in India(New Delhi: Anmol Publications Ltd, 2003 ), p. 2.
(^53) C. Raj Kumar,Corruption and Human Rights in India: Comparative Perspectives on
Transparency and Good Governance(New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2011 ), pp. 15 – 18.
(^54) N. Vittal,Corruption in India:The Roadblock to National Prosperity(New Delhi: Aca-
demic Foundation, 2003 ), p. 17.
(^55) Mohan R. Pillay, Paul R. Sandosham and Nandakumar Ponniya (eds.),Doing Business in
India(Singapore: Sweet & Maxwell, 2004 ), pp. 17 – 18.