When Justice Is Sold and Servants Turn Into Rulers: India’s Democratic Pillars Are Crumbling

By Ashok Kumar Jha, Editor, Ranchi Dastak & PSA Live News

India's democracy rests on three foundational pillars—the Legislature, the Executive, and the Judiciary. These institutions were envisioned to work in harmony, to uphold the Constitution, and to serve the people. But today, instead of complementing one another, these pillars are colliding, competing for supremacy, and shaking the very structure of our Republic.

What was once meant to be a balanced system of governance is now sliding into an arena of power tussles. The Legislature frames laws, the Executive implements them, and the Judiciary ensures justice. Yet in recent years, the Judiciary has not only overstepped its boundaries but has also begun interfering in legislative functioning—commenting on policies, questioning laws, and even issuing directions to the President of India, the highest constitutional authority.

Is this separation of powers, or judicial overreach on steroids?

Let’s speak the uncomfortable truth—justice in India is now a commodity. It is bought, sold, and auctioned in the corridors of courts. If you are poor and cannot afford an expensive lawyer, you may rot in jail for decades despite being innocent. There are thousands of such stories—of men spending 30, 40, 50 years in prison only to be told later: “You are acquitted with honor.”

What kind of ‘honor’ is this, when a man’s life is snatched away in the name of delayed justice?

Meanwhile, courts are flooded with pendency. Generations die waiting for judgments. Corruption seeps in quietly—from clerks to courtrooms, and yet our Honorable Judges remain unaware of what happens right under their nose. Instead of cleaning up this mess, the judiciary prefers to scrutinize parliamentary decisions, dictating what lawmakers can or cannot legislate.

But the most dangerous trend of all? Courts issuing directions to the President and Governors.

The Constitution declares the President as the head of the state, above all three pillars. No court, no judge, no bench has the right to "instruct" the President of India. Yet we see such instances increasing. Is the Judiciary now placing itself above the Constitution? Above the Republic?

This is not justice. This is judicial monarchy.

The harsh reality is, people have begun to lose faith in all three institutions. Parliament is seen as noisy and ineffective. The Executive as corrupt and indifferent. And now, the Judiciary—once the final hope—is increasingly perceived as arrogant, inaccessible, and unjust.

When public servants begin behaving like masters, democracy is under siege.

These institutions are not rulers. They are salaried servants—paid by the very same hungry, homeless, jobless citizens they ignore. The man sleeping on the street pays the taxes that fund parliamentary debates, bureaucratic salaries, and judges’ chambers. And yet he is the last to get justice—if ever.

It’s time for an awakening.

We must restore the dignity of the Constitution, reaffirm the limits of each pillar, and rebuild public trust. Democracy cannot survive when the protectors of justice begin to think of themselves as above the law, above the people, and above accountability.

This country belongs to the poor, the weak, the voiceless. Not to institutions intoxicated with power.
If we don’t act now, we may soon have a Constitution in paper, but not in practice.
The pillars must be restored—or the house will collapse.