NEW DELHI , Rajesh Kumar filed a case in 1995. He's still waiting for a verdict. The case is about a property dispute, his father's land was illegally occupied. His father is dead. His mother is dead. He's 65 years old. The case is older than the judge hearing it. This is not justice. This is a joke.
India has 50 million pending cases. That's 50 million lives waiting for justice. That's 50 million families whose futures are on hold. That's 50 million reasons why people have lost faith in the system.
The numbers are shocking. The average case takes 10-15 years to resolve. Some take 20-30 years. Some take longer than a lifetime. The Supreme Court has 70,000 pending cases. High Courts have 5 million. Lower courts have 45 million. But we have only 25,000 judges. We need 70,000. We have 40% vacancies.
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Chief Justice of India, admits: 'The backlog is a crisis. We're drowning in cases. We can't keep up. The system is broken.' But nothing changes. Why?
Because the politicians who should appoint judges are the same politicians who are afraid of independent judges. Because the bureaucrats who should reform the system are the same bureaucrats who benefit from delays. Because the lawyers who should demand faster justice are the same lawyers who make money from delays.
But here's what they don't tell you: delayed justice is not just inconvenient. It's destructive. It destroys lives. It destroys families. It destroys faith in democracy itself.
Take the case of Priya Sharma. She was raped in 2008. The case is still pending. The accused is free. She's traumatized. She can't move on. She can't get justice. She can't get closure. This is not justice. This is torture.
Or take the case of Ramesh Kumar. He was cheated of ₹10 lakh in 2010. The case is still pending. The cheater is rich. He's free. Ramesh is poor. He's waiting. He's suffering. This is not justice. This is injustice.
The solution is not in more courts or more judges. It's in reforming the system. It's in digitizing cases. It's in fast-tracking old cases. It's in punishing those who delay justice. It's in ensuring that justice is not just done, but done quickly.
But until that happens, 50 million people will keep waiting. 50 million lives will keep hanging. 50 million families will keep suffering. And justice will remain a joke.