How can we receive justice if courts have no time for serious cases?

Indian judges are increasingly stepping into the domain of the executive, says Anil Dharker. Some cases are serious while others are frivolous. In 2016 the Supreme Court 'revoked' President's rule in Uttarakhand for a couple of hours so that voting could take place about the legitimacy of the government. Since it was President's rule only the President had the right to suspend it and since judges are appointed by the President they should not overturn his decision. The frivolous cases are far too many. The Supreme Court now runs cricket in India by controlling the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Some more examples of frivolous verdicts: 'SC bars firecrackers in NCR', 'HC allows schools to hike fees' and 'HC to hear plan on penguin viewing'. One result of wasting time on frivolous cases is that there is little time for really serious cases. In 1997 a fire broke out in a cinema hall in Delhi, killing 59 people. Gross building violations and neglect of safety were discovered. The case dragged on for 20 years. The High Court awarded Rs 250 million as compensation and punitive fines of Rs 25 million on the Ansal brothers, who owned the hall. At first the Supreme Court halved the compensation and reduced punitive fines from Rs 25 million to 2.5 million. There was a public outcry, so in 2015 it increased the fine to Rs 300 million. Finally, this year one brother was sentenced to one year in prison, while the other brother was let off because he is 76 years of age. A clear signal to the rich that if they can drag a case for as long as possible they will escape the consequences of their crime. No wonder lawyers can charge ridiculous amount of fees. Ram Jethmalani presented a bill of Rs 38 million to defend Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, in a defamation case. Jethmalani claimed that he has given a discount to Kejriwal. The Supreme Court ruled that the national anthem should be played in all cinema halls and everyone should stand to show 'constitutional patriotism'. Since then people, including a man in a wheelchair, have been attacked for not standing during the anthem. Recently, the Supreme Court banned all sale of alcohol within 500 meters of national highways in the entire country. The judgement said that all establishments selling alcohol must move to beyond 500 meters, which is impossible because you cannot just shift hotels. Following the verdict many states have renamed highways as local streets. Shops and restaurants have changed their entrances so that customers have to travel more than 500 meters to enter. While the Supreme Court has time to adjudicate on trivial matters it has not bothered to establish a constitutional court for over 2 years to decide on the legitimacy of Aadhar, the biggest assault on privacy and personal freedom the world has ever seen. By interfering with executive matters the Supreme Court is allowing the rich and the powerful to do whatever they like. We are victims.