Delay as destiny or denial of justice? The need for jurisprudential introspection

Published on : 18 Oct 2025, 7:46 am 5 min read

When we speak of the Indian judiciary, we often invoke metaphors of grandeur - the temple of justice, the guardian of the Constitution. Yet, behind this solemn imagery lies a troubling truth: the Indian justice system is sinking under the weight of time. The ideal of justice - swift, fair and humane - has been replaced by the grim reality of delay, denial and disillusionment.

Justice, in its truest sense, is not a ritualistic pronouncement of law but the realisation of human dignity. And yet, the scale of judicial delay has turned this dignity into a distant dream. An RTI filed before the Supreme Court Registry recently revealed staggering data. In the last five years alone, district courts have accumulated 83,62,771 pending cases,