Queues for cash, justice: Frustrating experiences

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government's decision to withdraw high value currency notes from circulation was a bolt from the blue.The time-consuming process to print new notes and replace scrapped ones, coupled with a cap on daily cash withdrawals, created panic among 24 crore bank account holders.Most rushed and stood in queues before banks to exchange their old currency notes and get their daily quota of cash.The Supreme Court being the panacea of all ills, several public interest litigations were filed challenging the validity of demonetisation. The SC decided to focus on ameliorating the harassment faced by common people, forced to stand in queues for hours by the government's decision to demonetise without warning.On Friday , an SC bench headed by the Chief Justice of India startled many by its grim assessment of the possible fallout of people being forced to stand for hours in frustratingly long queues. There could be riots, it said. If a bench headed by CJI T S Thakur, who has 22 years of experience as a judge of constitutional courts, fears so, it could be true. For, judges have deep insight into the psychology of common people who throng the courts in search of justice.Indians are used to standing in queues. In our childhood, water used to trickle down the public tap for two hours every morning and evening.Vessels of various shapes and sizes used to be kept in queue, the length of which was a spectacle for us. There were fights.But in the small towns of Odisha in the late seventies, we as children never saw a riot.When we grew up a little, we stood in queues for hours for various purposes -to get ration and kerosene from PDS shops, to pay electricity bills, to pay college fees and to buy cinema tickets.In Delhi, all these queues were still in existence. In addition, we found people standing in long queues every time a kind person offered free food on festive occasions. Poverty alongside Delhi's opulence was a surprise for many of us. At All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), people come from far-flung areas and queue up early morning to get an Out Patient Department (OPD) card made. They wait till late afternoon to get access to a doctor, who tirelessly examines patient after patient through the day . As far as a date for surgery goes, depending on the seriousness of the disease, a patient may have to wait in queue from five months to one year.Did a riot take place there in the past?The SC in its February 26, 1998 judgment in Ram Lubhaya Bagga case had said, “The right of a citizen to live under Article 21 casts obligation on the State. This obligation is further reinforced under Article 47, it is for the State to secure health to its citizen as its primary duty . No doubt government is rendering this obligation by opening government hospitals and health centres, but in order to make it meaningful, it has to be within the reach of its people, as far as possible, to reduce the queue of waiting lists.“ The SC would like to have a fresh look at the facilities in hinterland government hospitals, which have rotted over the last few decades.Let us not forget the queues before temples. In A S Narayana Deekshitulu case (1996 AIR 1765), the SC described the queue at Tirumala Tirupati temple thus, “Lord Venkateswaraswamy temple of TTD has its centuries-old history . It had its glory with the patronage of Chola kings, Pallava kings, Vijayanagara kings who donated large tracts of land for its maintenance and upkeep. Equally , it suffered plunder by French invaders and British empire which used its income as part of the public exchequer.“It has regained its resplendent glory with immense faith and devotion the people have in Lord Venkateswaraswamy who visit daily in lakhs, wait in queue for a day for darshan for a few seconds.“ Did we ever hear of a riot at Tirupati temple?Last but not the least is the labyrinthine queues of litigants before courts. There are three crore cases pending in various courts. Nearly 35% of cases, or one crore, are pending for more than five years.If on an average, five persons are directly or indirectly affected by a case, then there are at least five crore people visiting courts periodically in search of elusive resolution of their cases. Going to court is not viewed sympathetically in India. People still look down upon on a person who often visits court. Yet, commoners patiently stand in queues without rioting in courts, while awaiting justice. The rich, famous and influential break this queue for justice with impunity with the help of successful lawyers commanding handsome appearance fees. The courts allow these biggies urgent hearing. This delays justice for those standing in queue for years.We hope the SC gives equal weightage to people's frustration and anger for being forced to stand before ATMs, banks and courts for long.