We need reforms that’ll ensure justice prevails

Source– The post is based on the article “We need reforms that’ll ensure justice prevails” published in the “The Hindu” on 5th April 2023.

Syllabus: GS2- Judiciary. GS3- Security

Relevance– Issues related to criminal justice system, and law & order

News– The India Justice Report of 2022 was recently released by Tata Trusts.

What are the main highlights of  India Justice Report, 2022?

Pending cases in courts– Covid has slowed down the pace of case-clearance by courts. Pending cases increased from 41 million in 2020 to 49 million in 2022. India has 5.6 million pending for longer than a decade and 190,000 cases pending for over 30 years.

Lack of judicial strength– The judiciary has a lack of capacity. There are a total of 20,093 judges at work. There exist 15 judges for every million Indians. It is less than a third of the 50 recommended by the Law Commission in 1987.

Overcrowding of prisons– There has been a sharp rise in overcrowding of Indian prisons. There are 30 extra inmates in 2021 for an existing capacity of 100. 77% of them were under-trials. It is up from about 69% two years earlier.

It violates the norm of “bail not jail” and shows the lack of apathy.

Policing issues– The report highlights the issues related to police forces. There exist state-wise variation on several counts, like vacancies, training budgets, police station cameras. 

Except in Union territories governed by the Centre, law-enforcers operate directly under state governments. So politics has a structural role in justice delivery.

Lack of police diversity is a common problem across states. There is a lack of participation on the basis of gender, caste or other markers of identity. It can lead to biases.

Women cops are in shortages. All police stations are supposed to have women’s helpdesks. But, 28% do not have this facility and many others don’t have women cops ready to respond.

There is a lack of autonomy for the police. politicians are reluctant to  empower police officers.