Parmanand Pandey
The gruesome shootout at Rohini court yesterday was shocking, without doubt, but not surprising. It has not happened for the first time, such incidents have taken place many times in many countries, but the moot question is that despite the incredible march of technology, why is it not being used to prevent such incidents from taking place? Why, at all, the dreaded criminals and gangsters are brought to the court rooms causing huge inconvenience to the public? The governments have to incur a lot of expenses in transporting the hardened criminals from jails to courtrooms and back to their cells. Nowadays, it can very easily be done by video conferencing.
The increased use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can reduce the number of cases by at least 70 per cent. A large number of flimsy and frivolous cases are filed every day and they can be filtered by the AI. This will be saving the expenses of the government and the public both from unnecessary botheration. The number of courtrooms and the judges will be considerably reduced. The courtrooms, which will become surplus, can be used for some other purposes.
The second thing that can be done is to bring about change in the mindset of the judges and the advocates. Why should they not be properly screened and frisked before entering the court premises? It is often seen advocates quarrelling with the security staff. They flaunt and throw around their weight of being in the robes. This must be done away with, and everyone must be subjected to strict checking. For this purpose, high-quality sensory machines can be installed, which can very easily detect the arms that might be carried under the coats and gowns of the lawyers.
The need is to get the solution of the problem and not to go on the strike at the drop of the hat. The live streaming of the courtroom proceedings is long overdue. But why this is not being done in the right spirit beggars all logic. Live- streaming will certainly remove the lethargy of the judges and the advocates. The Bar Council and the Bar Associations will have to play the pivotal role in complete overhauling of the court proceedings.
Cosmetic changes here and there will be of no use. The days are over when the third-rate judicial system was silently suffered. The new generation is fed up with the sleepy judges, cunning lawyers and go-getting touts.