Letters: Public banks and judiciary

This refers to Debashis Basu's column "Public sector banks: Mr Modi's nightmare?" (Irrational Choice, June 15) and the article "Saving banks' distressed assets" (June 15) pointing out that "the Reserve Bank of India's move to empower banks to take charge of companies that default on loans could run into legal hurdles".

One big-bang reform can solve both the problems: a judiciary, which is thousand times faster.

This requires vacancy-less courts, with all judicial appointments being made well in advance of every retirement, elimination of all British-era dilatory practices such as summer holidays in courts and the introduction of compound interest on all monetary awards by courts (this will, in one stroke, eliminate endless litigation and the deliberate delaying of cases by those who have to pay).

But with every lawyer (including judges who are also lawyers) focusing solely on their own petty self-interest at the cost of causing unnecessary grievous injury to millions (such as the Uphaar cinema tragedy victims and innumerable under-trials and family of road accident victims, to give just a few examples), can this be done?

On the other hand, unless this is done, can lakhs of crores of assets tied up in India's infamous judicial red tape be freed, bringing a new dynamism to India's economy? Can the "acchhe din" ever come to India? This is a make-or-break challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Alok Sarkar Kolkata

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