"I Am Tired of Going to the Supreme Court": Kapil Sibal's Candid Remark and the Fight for Public Trust in Justice

"I Am Tired of Going to the Supreme Court": What Kapil Sibal's Remark Says About Faith in Indian Courts Courtrooms usually hear lawyers defend the system. This time, one of the profession's best-known names said he was losing faith in it. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal said he was tired of repeatedly approaching the Supreme Court. "I don't think there is any use of going there. I don't have much hope in the Supreme Court of India," he said, stressing that he was speaking for himself. In the same breath he called the Supreme Court the one institution that could still save the Constitution. That mix of hope and disappointment is what makes the remark worth reading closely. The Context Behind the Frustration Sibal spoke after Delhi Police imposed sweeping restrictions ahead of a planned protest by the Cockroach Janta Party, a youth pressure group. The group wanted Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. According to reports, the protest could not go ahead because of the curbs and the detention of its leaders and many supporters. A day earlier, Sibal had appeared before the Supreme Court for CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby. He asked the bench, "What is happening to my country?" The court told the Centre that a complete shutdown could not be permitted, though restrictions could be imposed. The number of metro stations ordered closed was then reduced from 57 to 45. The Voter-Roll Grievance Sibal's sharpest criticism concerned the SIR proceedings. He said the court had been told repeatedly, over months of arguments, that voters' names were being wrongly deleted and wrongly included, yet no relief followed. He added that Bengal's appellate tribunals have restored names in about 93% of the appeals decided so far. In his view, that shows most deletions were wrongful and that the court should have intervened earlier. These figures are Sibal's own claims and should be read as his argument, not as a finding of the court. A Lawyer's Duty Continues Asked whether he was dissatisfied with the Chief Justice of India, Sibal said lawyers are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. Their job, he said, is to fight people's cases and file petitions "whether the Court hears or not." So the statement reads less as a decision to step back and more as a warning from inside the system. Why It Matters A justice system works only if people believe a remedy is available when they need it. The right to approach the Supreme Court is itself a fundamental right, and it means little if litigants and lawyers doubt that relief will come in time. Sibal's words are one advocate's frustration and not a judgment on the institution. But when someone with decades of experience before the apex court voices that frustration in public, it becomes part of a larger conversation about timely hearings, effective relief, and trust in the courts.