Bangalore: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India would fall substantially unless a speedy justice delivery system was put in place, former Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani cautioned today (Nov 2).

"Our legal system is in shambles", the eminent jurist and Rajya Sabha member said while delivering a special address at the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of "Jwalamukhi" weekly in Bangalore. He said the FDI that India currently attracted was a "trickle" and that too would dry up if the system was not improved.

He said foreign investors wanted security for their investment foremost and they needed assurance that when they got into a problem, they would get justice from courts fast.

"If he (foreign investor) finds that the system of justice requires 20 years, why will he come and risk his money. Everybody wants security fast," he said.

He also called for modifying the law of contempt and said the press had not exerted adequate pressure on lawmakers to do so.

"Truth and belief in truth should be a defence", he said. "If you say something which is true, and even if it is not true but honestly believe it to be true...should be no offence," he contended.

Jethmalani said it was high-time the Supreme Court reviewed its judgements pertaining to law of contempt as he believed that in most cases the press was unfairly at the receiving end.

Former Chief Justice of Supreme Court M N Venkatachalaiah termed industrialists taking over management and ownership of newspapers as an unhealthy trend for press liberty.

Jethmalani, Venkatachalaiah and Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of Baroda, P S Shenoy, lauded the "fearless journalism with crusading spirit" of the weekly's Editor and Publisher C S Sathya, who ran the tabloid for nearly 50 years.

Sathya passed away about four months ago.

PTI