Although a refugee from the country’s dysfunctional legal system — I am a duly qualified Barrister-at-law of Lincoln’s Inn, London with four years of practice in the Bombay high court — I have always remained committed to the Rule of Law. It’s impossible to deny that an independent judiciary is necessary to arbitrate disputes between citizens and State and between citizens inter se. Rule of the jungle and social chaos are the inevitable outcomes without a fair and impartial judiciary. One feels sorry for “lesser breeds without the law”.

And there’s no doubt that post-independence India has been blessed with a free, impartial and enviably independent judiciary. In several landmark and brilliantly reasoned judgements, the Supreme Court has upheld the sanctity of citizens’ fundamental rights against transient parliamentary majorities (Golak Nath’s Case, 1967) and venturing further, proscribed Parliament from altering the basic structure of the Constitution (Kesavananda Bharati Case, 1973). In numerous other judgements, the upper judiciary (including 25 high courts) has stood firm against executive and legislature overreach and also dispensed Solomon-like justice in disputes between citizens.

However, there’s a downside to India’s admirably independent and learned legal system. It is time-agnostic, among the slowest worldwide, and procedure and process obsessed, groaning under a backlog of 50 million cases. According to a popular calculus, at its current speed of case disposal, it will take 324 years to clear the pending backlog.

The pathetic inability of Bench and Bar for the past 75 years to devise ways and means to speed the wheels of the justice delivery system not only renders cherished fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens illusory, it also slows economic growth and development. Contemporary India has a globally notorious reputation for poor enforceability of contracts and torts, which dissuades investment, especially foreign investment.

In my opinion, these infirmities of an academically gifted legal ecosystem aren’t beyond resolution. Therefore, in a departure from past practice, under the aegis of the EducationWorld Foundation, we teamed up with legal scholar Kartikeya Chandra Sen – an alumnus of SOAS, London and Jindal Global Law School — who drew upon research data of his highly respected alma mater (O.P. Jindal Global University) to help us write this first-of-this-genre research study. Fingers crossed it will ignite a national debate.

There’s much more in this packed issue of EducationWorld including an analysis of the unsatisfactory Union Budget 2026-27 and a report on the EW-BSAI Education Leadership Retreat 2026 convened in Wayanad (Kerala) last month attended by 111 top-ranked school leaders from 25 cities. In EducationWorld we believe every problem has a solution. Seriously.