Indian Judicial System: Very Costly, Painfully Slow and Badly Technical for the Public?

Indian Judicial System: Very Costly, Painfully Slow and Badly Technical for the Public?

When Justice Becomes a Burden: The Constitution of India begins with the promise of “Justice – social, economic and political.” Yet for a large section of the population, justice has become an endurance test rather than a remedy. For ordinary citizens, courts are no longer spaces of relief but arenas of financial ruin, procedural confusion, and endless waiting. The system appears designed not for people, but for lawyers, paperwork, and precedent.

This article examines whether the Indian judicial system has truly become prohibitively costly, excruciatingly slow, and excessively technical—and why these traits systematically exclude the very public it is meant to protect.

1. Justice That Bleeds Money

1.1 The Myth of “Low Court Fees”

On paper, Indian courts appear inexpensive. In reality, litigation costs resemble a slow financial hemorrhage.

The irony is that even when courts punish frivolous litigation, Section 35A(2) CPC caps compensatory costs at ₹3,000—a laughable amount in 2026. Genuine litigants remain uncompensated while vexatious litigators thrive.

2. Delay Is Not a Defect – It Is a Feature

2.1 Pendency: A Democracy in Waiting

India now carries over 5 crore pending cases across courts.

Why delays persist:

• Judge-population ratio: ~21 judges per million (US: 107).

• Vacancies above 30% in subordinate judiciary.

• Adjournment culture institutionalized.

• Courts sitting 4–5 hours a day on average.

• Endless appeals with no cost deterrence.

A civil suit easily spans 12–20 years. Appeals can consume another decade.

Justice delayed is no longer justice denied — it is justice destroyed.

3. Hyper-Technical Law: When Procedure Kills Substance

3.1 The Tyranny of Form Over Fairness

Indian procedure law is a colonial relic meant for elite advocates, not lay citizens.

Cases are dismissed for:

• Wrong margins or fonts.

• Affidavit defects.

• Limitation technicalities.

• Filing in incorrect format.

In DRTs, NCLTs, Consumer Courts:

• Banks receive indulgence.

• Citizens face dismissals for trivial clerical errors.

Law has become a contest of compliance, not conscience.

4. Unequal Battlefield – Institutions vs Individuals

This is not rule of law — this is rule by law.

5. Technology That Excludes Instead of Empowering

E-Courts were introduced to democratize justice. Instead, they have:

• Alienated senior citizens.

• Excluded rural litigants lacking digital literacy.

• Created system crashes, missing files, corrupted uploads.

• Reduced hearings to screen-reading exercises.

Digitization without redesigning procedure is merely electronic paperwork.

6. Litigation as Slow Poison

Litigation in India is not a legal process — it is a life-altering trauma.

• Families disintegrate.

• Businesses shut down.

• Health collapses.

• People die awaiting final hearings.

The judiciary never records how many litigants pass away before their appeals are listed.

That silence is more condemning than any judgment.

7. Why Reforms Keep Failing

Every Law Commission has diagnosed the disease. Every Chief Justice promises reform.

But the system survives on:

• Delay culture.

• Status-quo interests.

• Lawyer-centric procedures.

• Institutional inertia.

Reform threatens those who profit from complexity.

8. What a People-Centric Judiciary Must Become

Is the Indian Judicial System Costly, Slow and Badly Technical?

Yes — not accidentally, but structurally.

Today, the system is:

• Too expensive for the poor.

• Too slow for the living.

• Too technical for the common citizen.

Justice in India is no longer blind —
it is burdened, delayed, digitized, and distant.

Until courts stop asking “Which rule was violated?” and start asking
“Who suffered injustice?”, the Constitution’s promise of justice will remain beautifully printed — but tragically unpracticed.