Supreme Court the Final Pedestal of Justice

About the Writer- I am Ajita Dixit, I have graduated from ILS, Dehradun and presently
pursuing my Masters in Law. The Article herein below exemplifies the role of the Apex
Ruling Body of our democratic Setup. The Supreme Court of India- the last ray of hope for
the powerless.

INTRODUCTION
“Yato Dharmastato Jaya- Where there is Dharma, there is victory”. The Motto of Supreme
Court clearly shows that Judicial Independence is the barricading of our dynamic system. It
gives vitality to the words of legislators who framed the Indian Constitution with a vision.
Justice is that harmless weapon in the hands of people which if lost would shatter the society
to pieces. Hence the Judiciary is empowered to become the voice of people and to impart
sense of freedom within the society.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA- THE KEEPER OF JUSTICE, EQUITY AND GOOD

CONSCIENCE
With the advancement of time and keeping at pace the revolutionary changes that are
occurring worldwide, our Indian Society too has taken a major blow. Age old laws, beliefs,
lifestyle, customs are all taking a leap and requires major improvisation. Legislators,
Administrators, Judiciary have been constantly realising the need of an hour and striving hard
to maintain balance, nationally and internationally.
Supreme Court of India, the watch dog of our rights is often reached out to raise its voice
when people are losing their faith in the system. Constitution of India is the Grundnorm of
Indian Society, it sets out the ultimate goal below which derogation is neither possible nor
allowed. Every law, legislation, Judgment, Rule framed must be in line with the essential
spirit of our Constitution. The primary duty to adhere to the Constitution is of the Supreme
Court. Constitution itself has given vast powers to the Supreme Court to maintain the sanctity
of legislative intent behind the constitutional framework.
India works on the principle of Rule of law which can function effectively only when access
to justice is readily available. Justice is that basic resource which every individual must have
access to in order to stablise. Injustice, unfairness to another or violation of one's rights would
only result into instability. The Supreme Court is thus given the agenda of keeping checks
and balances in the ever evolving Indian society.
Justice is one of the essential trait of our Constitution as envisaged in the Preamble and
Supreme Court is basically a medium to enforce the common will of the people. If the
Judiciary gets biased and starts to create difference the light of justice would fade away and
faith of the people would be lost forever. The most important function of Judiciary is
Administration of Justice for the upliftment of the society.

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THE TUSSEL BETWEEN THE JUDICIARY AND LEGISLATURE
It is very well said that the excellence of judiciary is the measure of excellence of its
government. Though the two always strive to have the ball in their court but in the Indian
Political democratic setup, independence of the two organs is very essential. Supreme Court
though many a times takes suo moto cognizance on matters of public importance and where
grave injustice could be witnessed but that does not empower it to intermeddle with the work
of the legislature. Supreme Court hold the power to refrain itself from any matter involving
law and order situation and thereby confer its forebearance on the authorities concerned.
THE INTERRELATION OF JUSTICE WITH POVERTY
Barriers of access to justice are very strong in the developing countries and primarily
amongst the poorest crowd. Discrimination, inequality, lack of legal awareness and
corruption often weaken the justice delivery system and have direct impact on poor people.
Those who lack resources to access the legal system often face the brunt. They are exploited
by the corrupt government officials and still their path towards justice remains blur. For ex.
In India there is very less discussion on bringing the socio economic profile of the death row
prisoners as a mitigating factor while awarding them capital punishment. As a result of which
there is now empirical evidence that a vast majority of India’s death row prisoners are
extremely poor and often do not receive competent legal representation. The Apex
Constitutional body must press upon the need to have proper representation of the needy. The
access to justice must be smooth for those who believe it to be far reaching.
GROWTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF SUPREME COURT
Supreme court of India flared up with decades of improvement and has earned the title of
“The most powerful court in the world”. It conferred its primacy in judicial appointments by
way of collegium system and expanded its horizons using its power of judicial review thereby
intervening in the arbitrary use of power by the executive. With time the Supreme Court
emerged as the last ray of hope in the eyes of public, who were earlier blindly trusting the
political leaders. Judiciary in turn came out as an activist to compensate the inactiveness of
the executive. Recently Supreme Court also introduced an Artificial Intelligence Portal
named SUPACE (Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Courts Efficiency) aiming at
equipping the machines to deal with vast amount of data that is received at the time of filing
of cases. It would reduce man power and would result in speedy and effective delivery of
justice to those decades of pending cases. In 2020, the Supreme Court developed a software
called, SCI-Interact, to make all its 17 benches paperless. This software helps Judges
access files, annexures to petitions and make snotes on computers. In November 2019, the
Apex Court launched an indigenously engineered neural translation tool, SUVAAS, to
translate judicial orders and rulings from English to vernacular languages faster and
efficiently.  

MAJOR LANDMARK DECISION TAKEN BY SUPREME COURT TO IMPART

JUSTICE

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1. Kerala Union of Working Journalists V. Union of India. (2021 SC)- SC held that even
an Under trial Prisoner has an unconditional fundament right to life.
2. Satbir Singh V. State of Haryana (2021) Guidelines drafted for Dowry Death Trials.
The Court held that Section 304-B IPC must be interpreted keeping in mind the
legislative intent to curb the social evil of bride burning and dowry demand. The
Bench, therefore, laid down guidelines for Dowry Death trials in the lower courts.
3. Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalavaru V. State of Kerala, 1973- The Basic Structure
Doctrine was founded by the largest bench of Supreme Court.

4. Shayara Bano vs Union of India & Others, 2017- the Apex Court declared Triple Talaq
to be Unconstitutional and imposed ban on its usage. Its use in any form would be
considered illegal.

5. Navtej Singh Johar V. Union of India, 2018- The court allowed consensual
relationships among the individuals of the LGBT community which made it one of the
historic Supreme Court judgments. Supreme Court also made it clear that the choice of
LGBT persons to enter into physical relationship with persons of the same sex is their
choice. They are equally entitled to the enforcement of their Fundamental Rights. 

6. Subhash Kumar V. State of Bihar- Right to live is a Fundamental right under Article
21 and includes the right to enjoyment of pollution free water and air.

7. The Nibhaya gang Rape wherein justice was imparted after 8 years of legal battles and
struggles faced by the victim’s family.

CONCLUSION:

The Supreme Court is seen as a final and last resort when aggrieved party losses all its
hope and yet strive to keep within itself a ray of justice. Indian Legal System is so
complicated and diverse that justice is not easily sought. It takes decades of procedural
work and several recourses are available to the accused which many a times act as
hurdle in imparting speedy justice yet the judiciary is all about maintaining balance.
Courts are examples of weighing both parties at par until one is proven guilty. Supreme
Court consists of intellectual minds that believe in imparting justice with a rationale.
Emotional bent of heart or keeping in sight the devastating condition of the party must
not become a factor while deciding a case as it might be wrong. The principles of
Natural Justice must be followed to impart justice and to set a landmark for the society
at large. The Supreme Court has never failed us to illustrate its supremacy by giving
major landmark decisions such as Aadhar Case ( Right to Privacy of an Indiviual is a
Fundamental right), Sabrimala Temple Case whereby even the women irrespective of
age were allowed entry into the temple, thus bringing them onto same platform as men.
The Supreme Court always moves one step ahead and in case of major public outrage it
even interferes in the matters of legislative or executive matters by way of forming
committees headed by Supreme Court Judges. Justice is one of the goal of the Indian
Judiciary and the same is paramount. Though in a country like India where there is so

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much of diversity, at times justice gets delayed but the proactive role of Supreme Court
and other Courts are aiming at furnishing quick, efficient and speedy justice to the
aggrieved.