On Judicial Reform in India

 So, this is disturbing me a lot.

Yesterday, I was forced to encounter 2 pieces of news. I slept over them because usually, that which boils the blood in the evening doesn't even heat the water by morning. But not this time. The 2 things were:

A. A democratically elected government passes an Act on Judicial Appointments that make these appointments non-collegium based. The judiciary single handedly scraps this law. There is no check and balance on this action.

B. This:

https://www.opindia.com/2022/12/sc-stays-death-sentence-of-m-samivel-who-raped-and-brutally-killed-a-minor-girl-in-tamil-nadu-in-2020/

The death sentence was given by not one but TWO subordinate courts under the same Supreme Court. The crime was heinous and proved.

The trouble is, these are not isolated data points. Before this, the SC undermined the death threat to Nupur Sharma and also publicly humiliated her in court, making completely unjustified remarks. Then, they jumped into the CEC appointment, forgetting that they are themselves under a very nepotistic, subject-to-flattery collegium system.

Here are some things that I am not able to get over:

A. The Constitution provides for a system of checks and balances for the Legislature and the Executive, but NONE for the judiciary.

B. In a Brut video of the Hon. President Smt. Draupadi Murmu, she asks, very rightly, "You ask us to make more jails to house more undertrials. But what we need is speedy dispensation of justice, not more undertrials. Why are they under trial after years?"

C. In as much as I could read, there is no performance criteria for a judge other than being favoured by the senior judges. Their record of speedy dispensation of justice, ensuring that people do not abuse the judicial process, even the quality of their judgements, amounts to nothing - because of the Collegium system. These contractors of meritocracy still appoint the CJI on the basis of one thing only - seniority!

And all I can think of, as citizens, do we not have a right to ask for Judicial Reform? Isn't that the right of every litigant, and every citizen of India? To correct an institution that is not, and has not, been working effectively, for many decades now?

What judicial reforms, if any, would you like, as a citizen of India? I really would like more inputs and insights.