JOIN USIndia can't have parallel legal systems for rich and poor: SC
The Supreme Court on Thursday said India cannot have two parallel legal systems one for the rich and the resourceful and with political power and the other for the small men without capabilities to obtain justice or fight injustice.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hrishikesh Roy made the observations while cancelling bail of Govind Singh, husband of BSP MLA Rambai in Madhya Pradesh Assembly in a murder case.
The top court ordered the High Court to conduct an inquiry within one month on administrative side into allegations of undue influence made by the trial judge while dealing with the matter as well as charges made against him.
Taking a serious view of allegations by the trial judge, the bench said High Court failed in its duty to ensure that the sanctity of the criminal justice process was preserved.
The court further said a judiciary that is susceptible to such pressures allows politicians to operate with impunity and incentivises criminality to flourish in the political apparatus of the State.
"An independent and impartial judiciary is the cornerstone of democracy. Judicial independence of the district judiciary is cardinal to the integrity of the entire system. The courts comprised in the district judiciary are the first point of interface with citizens. If the faith of the citizen in the administration of justice has to be preserved, it is to the district judiciary that attention must be focused as well as the ‘higher’ judiciary," Justice Chandrachud wrote in 33-page judgement.
The court, however, cautioned judges to be wary of launching into a diatribe against the State authorities without due care and reflection.
It also highlighted principle of separation of power to emphasise that compartmentalisation of the judiciary and executive should not be breached by interfering with the personal decision-making of the judges and the conduct of court proceedings under them.