In view of the lockdown since March, hearings in court have been reduced to cover only the “urgent” cases and has thus slowed down the judicial system. However, COVID remains the least of the reasons for failure and delays of the Judiciary. Surely, justice moves at a lumbering pace in India when it takes 38 years to acquit a man for a crime involving 600 gm of turmeric.

On Thursday a three-judge Supreme Court bench finally acquitted a Sonepat based trader, Prem Chand in case of adulteration after 38 years. Juctice NV Ramana, Surya Kant and Krishna Murari looked into the event of 1982, when a food inspector found he was selling turmeric without a licence. The inspector took 600gm for testing, and the sample was found to contain “four living mealworms and two live weevils”. Overlooking various facts from the 2009 high court judgement, the apex court pointed that there is no evidence that the samples were not tampered as they were sent after an unexpected delay of 18 years. After being acquitted in 1954, he was again convicted after 14 years when he moved the Supreme Court.

The case came up for a regular hearing before the Supreme Court in March, after the court fast tracked criminal cases pending for over 10 years. It was for the bid to address the pendency of criminal cases, that Prem Chand was finally acquitted. As of June 1, 60,000 cases remain pending with the apex court according to their own report.

The fact remains, justice delayed is justice denied.

Is acquittal after 38 years of humiliation justice for Prem Chand? Was Nirbhaya resting in peace for eight years until her criminals were hanged? Delaying justice is quite common in India, a number of reasons cause this delay. Primary reason for failures is the inadequate number of judges which overburdens the judicial system. Whereas in case of delay of death penalty the law system is usually blamed for being too flexible and involving a great deal of paperwork. Yet again, we can’t skip procedures and take matters in own hands in any situation. In such a situation, there is a dire need for the judicial system to respond to crimes rapidly and ensure timely justice to all.