Former chief justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi said he won’t go to the Supreme Court with his grievances because he would have to wait endlessly for a verdict.
“You want a $5-trillion economy but you have a ramshackled judiciary,†said Gogoi, who retired as the head of the country’s judiciary in November 2019 and is now a member of the Upper House of Parliament.
Gogoi’s remarks calling for an overhaul of the judiciary’s capacity and efficacy highlights India’s troubles with delayed verdicts and enforcing contracts. Court systems in Asia’s third-largest economy are clogged with over 43 million cases and a shortage of judges means that some cases can end up taking years, even decades, to find a resolution. Companies invested in India have a tough time once entangled in a legal dispute.
Only corporations, willing to take chances with their millions of rupees go to the Supreme Court, he said. “If you were to go to the court, you’d be only washing your dirty linen in the court. You won’t get a verdict. I have no hesitation in saying it,†Gogoi said.
Gogoi made the remarks responding to a question on whether he plans to sue a politician who alleged that he presided over a matter that heard allegations of sexual harassment against him during his tenure as the chief justice.
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