Abstract
The justice system in India faces major challenges, mainly against the background of the huge backlog of cases that are still pending. Courts throughout the country have a backlog of over 40 million cases; this is one way in which India's legal system is burdened and results in delayed justice which may indeed be referred to as denied justice.

Various measures have already been taken to address this problem by setting up fast-track courts, e-courts, and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Despite these efforts, there is still a considerable backlog indicating a need for stronger reform of the judiciary structure. India has undertaken numerous judicial reforms aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness since independence.

These include procedural changes made to adapt to technological advancements among others. The earlier mode of reforms was intended to increase the number of judges and courts while modern approaches center on technology use, streamlining court processes, and encouraging alternative dispute resolution methods.

Several strategies must be employed to beat this sluggishness in judicial work. They include an increase in human resource capacity for the judiciary, improvement in infrastructure development by applying case scheduling methods, accountability, and transparency in the operations of the court should also be emphasized as well.

This reform process cannot go on without judges, lawyers, and other stakeholders. Judges must manage cases proactively while lawyers need to stop pointless litigation by adopting more efficient practices.Bar-to-b Bench interplay is vital in an efficient judiciary. Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms offer the best solution for reducing the burden on courts.

Tribunals also contribute to speedy justice dispensation. Any loose ends remain despite the various reforms such as inconsistent implementation of policies, inadequate training for judicial officers, and lack of enough public awareness about alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Addressing these issues comprehensively can pave the way for a more efficient and effective judicial system in India.

Introduction
We all live in India, a country full of diversity, versatility, and many different cultures. India is also home to almost 140 crore citizens. Due to the huge population, the country is facing a large number of pending cases in many courts in India.

The administration of justice in India is an important component that helps in the democratic framework of the government by providing justice to the people by applying the rule of law, equality for all, etc. However, due to various reasons, whether fewer judges in the courts or the number of courts, the courts are over burned with a large number of cases.

These issues have now led to more problems because if one case is pending for more than 10 years and if the party does get justice at the time of the judgment that justice will be of waste because that case has made the plaintiff's 10 years full of tension, maybe depression, anxiety, etc, the case which is running from almost a decade can provide a mental trauma to the parties involved.

The justice that is delayed is equal to the justice that is denied. After independence the judicial system has undertaken various reforms to improve the problem of the overburden of the cases such as by introducing the concept of tribunals in 1985, the introduction of arbitration and mediation, the introduction of Lok Adalat has also taken place which has helped a lot in decreasing the burden of the courts. This paper explains these problems and solutions in detail.

In 2023 over 44 million cases are pending across various courts in the territory of India with alone approximately 70000 cases pending in the Supreme Court in district court we can see the pendency of cases of over 90 percent. Several factors contribute to this backlog of cases, first would be the shortage of judges in the judiciary system. India has only about 20 judges over a million people, which is far below the recommended ratio of 50 judges per million people.

This shortage of judges results in the overflow of the cases to the judges and due to the shortage of time during the day time and also due to the long arguments of the advocates, the cases mainly get the next date of hearing of long intervals which results in the delay of the judgments hence overburdening of the courts.

The second issue is the procedural inefficiencies. The Indian legal system is a mixture of time-consuming, complex procedures that often lead to postponement and adjournments. Also, the practice of appeals in the higher courts even in minor cases leads to overburdening of the courts.

The third issue is the over-awareness of the legal rights of the citizens which leads to the filling of new cases. The individuals also file a case on pity issues such as quarrels among the neighbours on the issue of car parking or quarrels among the individuals for children to play in the afternoon.

The consequences of the backlog of cases are severe, it leads to prolonged trials, delayed justice, and also a lack of confidence in the eyes of citizens for the legal system. In many cases, it has been seen that delayed justice has been equal to denied justice, particularly to the marginalized or backward individuals who lack the resources to navigate the complete legal process.

In response to the backlog of cases, the judiciary system of India has introduced several measures aimed at reducing the burden of the courts. One of the most significant establishments is the fast-track courts. These are the court established in India with the primary aim of solving cases related to the offenses such as sexual offenses, particularly related to rape cases, and also under the Protection of Children from sexual offenses act (POCSO Act).

According to the reports in 2023, over 1800 fast track courts were operational in India and also helped reduce the burden of the courts by listening to the cases of the above-mentioned categories. Another important establishment is the Lok Adalat. The first Lok Adalat was first held in the 'una' city in the Junagarh district of Gujrat in 1982.

Lok Adalat is a type of Adalat held at every district court once a month. In Lok adult, the judges mainly dispose of the cases pending in the real court or the cases which have not been brought before any court and are likely to be filed before the court. Also, the matters related to an offense not compoundable under the law shall not be settled in Lok Adalat. Lok Adalat promotes the settlement of disputes through negotiation, conciliation, and mediation.

In Lok Adalat, the decision of the court is final and binding on all the parties. Lok Adalat helps in disposing of existing cases related to civil disputes, family matters, and motor accident claims. The success of the Lok Adalat has helped the court in reducing the burden of the cases.

Another milestone establishment of the judiciary is the e-courts which was introduced in 2005 and has helped a lot in reducing the burden of the courts. E courts help in the online filling of cases, electronic case management, and the digitalization of court records.

E-courts have reduced the burden of the physical files and have made the judges and the advocate's works systemized and effective. It saves the time of the court as the judges now don't have to look into the bulky files of the cases as all the files are uploaded into the computer system of the judges. In the honourable Supreme Court of India till now 5 courtroom out of 15 has been fully computerized as not a single piece of paper is required in the court and till November all the 15 courts will be computerized. This initiative saves the time of the court in finding the bulky physical papers.

Despite these efforts, several challenges are also present such as in fast-track court sometimes the overburden of the cases also happens. As we all know the situation of women nowadays in our country, a large number of rape cases are emerging in our country and to solve them and to provide justice to the victims the fast tract costs also getting overburdened nowadays and in Lok Adalat if the parties do not want to settle the case in Lok Adalat it can further lead to court proceeding hence cases go back to normal courts. In e-courts also the issue of lack of knowledge of technical usage may lead to an issue among the advocates and judges. For the effective use of the e courts training should be given to every law student and every judicial officer for the effective use of this feature.

Judicial reform has changed its way towards greater success significantly since independence. It has shaped the country's economic, political, social and other advancement etc. The Indian constitution made by the drafting committee and adopted in 1950 has established the judiciary as the third pillar of democratic democracy. The constitution has established the judiciary as the independent pillar of the government hence it is independent from the interference of the government. The constitution also provided the separation of power which means that all the organs of the government are independent from each other and can function accordingly, and provides the protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law.

The post-independence period introduces various judicial reforms such as the introduction of public interest litigation in the 1980s. PIL means an individual or any organization can file a petition on behave of any person who is suffering from any injustice. This is mainly done for the poor section of society because most of the time they don't really have the means such as money or resources to get justice so on behalf of some people or organizations file the case. Another important reform can be of the NJAC National Judicial Appointments Commission. It aimed at making the appointment of the judges at the state and at the central level free from any form of bias but it was later in 2015 struck down and the old system of collegium for the appointment of the judges was carried away.

The reforms which are going on in the present are mainly to make the judiciary system less burdened or for their advancement. The introduction of the commercial courts has made the burden of the normal courts lesser as all the cases of commercial disputes were sent to this court. Despite these reforms, various advancements are not even implemented, and those that are implemented are not adopted because of to lack of resistance to change in the citizens.

The judicial reform in India can be broadly classified into two approaches classical and modern approach. The traditional approach mainly focuses on increasing the number of judges, simplifying the procedure of the court, and improving the infrastructure of the court premises. While these all are important, they are not sufficient to address the challenges faced by the judiciary. The modern approach on the other hand focuses on improving the technology of the court, enhancing legal education to laymen or students, etc. Technology integration is one of the most important reforms done as I have already stated the example of e c-courts that had improved the technology of the courts and also the judicial efficiency.

Similarly, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) has made the work of lawyers and judges easier. As AI has been used in doing legal research by the law person. Legal education is also an important modern approach for improving the quality of legal education and training for judges and lawyers as it is essential for building a more effective judiciary system. Legal education includes revising the curriculum of law schools, specialized training for judges, and promoting legal education at the school level by introducing legal studies as an elective subject for 11th and 12th students which has already been implemented by many schools and has been opted by many students as their elective subject.

Judicial inefficiency is the major barrier that is increasing the cases of delayed justice. As the Indian judicial system has many drawbacks and a system of case management should be implemented. The judicial system includes two important positions judges and advocates. The judges are the most reputed members of the court whose decisions are final and binding on the courts. The judges not only give the judgment but also carefully see the circumstances that will further lead to a just and fair decision.

The judges play a major role in maintaining and checking the track of the cases, and deadlines and checking whether the court proceeding has been done smoothly without any interference from any other organ of the government. The judges try to focus more on ADR like mediation and arbitration which makes the burden of the courts lesser. The layers work as the backbone of the judiciary. If the lawyers encourage their clients to settle the dispute by mediation or arbitration or by out-of-court settlement the overburdened courts will get some relief.

The burden of the courts can be reduced if the relationship between the bar and bench is based upon mutual respect and cooperation. The bar should assist the bench by providing well-researched arguments adhering to ethical considerations and cooperating with the court delays. The bench in turn should be just and fair while delivering justice and should follow the rule of impartial justice while delivering judgments. The Bar Council of India and the judiciary must work together to enforce standards of conflicts and ensure that both the lawyers and the judges have ethical considerations and are following all the rules for better justice delivery.

The features of alternative dispute resolution like arbitration, mediation, and conciliation are important features for reducing the burden of the courts. In the system, the parties are required to sit together and settle the matter before the court procedures by mutual consent in the presence of any mediator or arbitrator but if the matter is not being settled in the ADR then the matter will further go to the normal court proceedings. The ADR is an effective tool as it reduces the burden of the courts by settling cases outside the court premises. Every person has been recommended to go the mediation before going to the courts. However, due to the failure of settlement of the cases in the ADR, the burden of proof still exists.

There is also an effective establishment of tribunals which are the quasi-judicial body designed to deal with cases related to specific issues such as tax, labour, and administrative matters. The tribunals were mainly designed to divide the burden of the courts. The decisions given by the tribunals are binding on the parties involved and the decisions of the courts are subject to judicial review to maintain fairness. The role of tribunals in judicial reform is crucial, as they can offer a more specialized and effective resolution process, but this requires oversight and updates to the legislative framework governing them.

Despite numerous attempts at the judicial process, there remain some loose ends such as a lack of technical knowledge among the judges and the lawyers. The lawyers don't know how to use the e-courts app which has been launched to make e-filling easier and to keep track of the cases. The tribunals or the ADR system is also not working effectively as it should be because of a lack of awareness among the people of the existence of this special kind of courts and of mediation and arbitration. The awareness to the citizens of India regarding this kind of topic should be arranged via NGOs or the legal aid cells of law colleges.

Justice administration in India forms part of the rule of law and is thus challenged by serious problems. Particular to these is the crisis of backlog and delays in the legal system, which has shaken the people's confidence in the judiciary and delayed justice dispensation. Judicial reforms are thus not merely a need but have become imperative. Since the presidency of India, it has taken many steps toward reforming the judiciary by adopting a blend of traditional and modern methods to answer the many needs of changing society.

In the Constitution itself, the foundation of an independent judiciary was laid, and over the decades, various reforms have been brought out for efficiency, accountability, and transparency. However, deep-seated problems, such as judicial inefficiency, underutilization of ADR mechanisms, and tribunals functioning with inadequate resources, indicate that much remains to be done. In effect, an interplay between the bar and bench necessarily requires respect and collaboration for judicial efficiency. Judges and lawyers have to work together to ensure that the legal process is fair and swift.

ADR, better empowerment of the tribunals, continuous professional development of the legal fraternity-these all are important steps toward a decongested court system and speedier justice dispensation. Unless the loose ends that have persistently remained are addressed, success will remain an elusive dream. These pertain to filling judicial vacancies, upgrading infrastructure, embracing technology fully, and assurance of commitment to the reform process by every stakeholder, from judges to litigants.

Though quite a good number of reforms have been implemented in the Indian judiciary, more remains to be done to overcome existing challenges. The Judiciary and the stakeholders need to work in tandem and keep pace with innovative and futuristic ideas to alter the present legal framework to meet the justice needs of a modern-day democratic polity. Only then will the judiciary be in a position to shoulder its constitutional mandate of efficiently delivering justice to all citizens fairly, transparently, and equitably

Award Winning Article Is Written By: Ms.Ginni Chopra

Authentication No: NV432859978438-23-1124