Expressing deep concern over inconsistency in judgments, Supreme Court Judge Justice R V Raveendran said in Lucknow on Saturday that such anomalies had led the common man to lose faith in the judicial system.
"People are afraid of courts because of various anomalies in the practice of laws and filing Special Leave Petitions before apex court is regarded as a huge gamble," he remarked.
"The common man is often bewildered why he loses a case with identical facts, when another litigant gets relief," he said.
According to Justice Ravindran, "These anomalies can be categorised in three groups -- those arising out of defective drafting of various laws, those arising out of inconsistent judicial pronouncements and those due to failure of legislative machinery to review and revise statutes in accordance with the changing needs of the society."
He said people are apprehensive of going to courts because of the inordinate delays in the judicial process, high costs and lethargic enforcement of court orders.
"If such a situation prevails people will refrain from seeking adjudication of civil disputes; Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and MP are glaring examples having seen a sharp slide in the number of civil disputes," he said.
Lamenting that personal prejudices and whims of judges have, of late, begun to influence their judgments, Justice Ravindran quipped, "Well, we hear that such and such judge is pro-government or anti-government or for that matter a liberal or a conservative judge."
He went to the extent of citing the case of a Supreme Court judge who never gave any judgment in favour of employers or landlords.
Stressing on the need to review and amend outdated laws, Justice Ravindran referred to the petty penalty of Rs 1,000 and an imprisonment of just six months for offenders charged with food adulteration.
"The amount of fine was determined way back in 1860 when Indian Penal Code was enacted. Sure enough the amount is grossly disproportionate to the seriousness of the crime and that Rs 1,000 of 150 years ago was equivalent to Rs 10 lakhs today."
Citing the facts of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha case wherein a constitutional bench of the apex court gave a clean chit to legislators under the provisions of Article 105 (2) of the Constitution, even though they were charged of accepting bribe.
"There should be no immunity for taking bribe, therefore such views need to be given a fresh look," he remarked.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Justice F I Rebello said "law in books is different from law in action."
Citing examples of Khap panchyat and child marriage, Justice Rebello stressed the need to transform society.
Earlier, while initiating the talk, Senior Judge of Lucknow Bench Justice Pradeep Kant said, "Our laws disallow a person to cast his vote if he is in jail but give the freedom to contest even from behind the bars."
Vice Chancellor of University Balraj Chauhan also spoke on the occasion. Alok Mathur, Hony Secretary of J K Mathur Memorial Trust welcomed the distinguished guests.
