Judiciary in India: The Dialogic Space

Abstract

The judiciary in India has been praised and blamed in the same breath, praised for being the voice of the people, upholding democracy in India at a time when faith in the other institutio ns responsible for upholding democracy is ebbing, and blamed for making a mark in the number of pending cases that stands to at present a scary 3.2crores figure. Critics point to this pendency as undesirable, for justice delayed is justice denied. The crit ics further point out that this delay is caused by the tendency of the judiciary in India to go for sensationalism and overreach, taking up cases for hearing that are sensational and in the process not responding to the civil and criminal cases that get fi led in the courts. Supporters of the judiciary however, have reasons for this pendency like the strength of the judiciary and the number of cases to be heard ratio, vacancies, poor infrastructure and support system etc. This is the political argument which the present paper would not focus on but would, by a discussion of some select cases; attempt to highlight the representational role played by the judiciary in India, facilitating the creation of a space for dialogue between the different sections of the society in India.