Just not justice ncrb data reveals badly struggling judicial system and several action points for policymakers

Just not justice ncrb data reveals badly struggling judicial system and several action points for policymakers

In a year dominated by Covid, NCRB’s Crime in India report 2020 reveals that much policing effort went into enforcing Covid-related social distancing norms. Around 16 lakh of the total 66 lakh cognisable offences registered in 2020 (nearly 25%) were offences like disobeying an order promulgated by a public servant and negligent act likely to spread infection. Covid also massively hobbled the judiciary, with lower court pendency up from 3.2 crore pre-pandemic to over 4 crore cases now. Judiciary’s struggle is best illustrated by rape trials.

Besides 1.46 lakh rape cases pending trial from 2019, another 23,693 cases were sent for trial in 2020. But only a paltry 3,451 cases from previous years and 363 from 2020 ended in conviction out of a total of 9,898 cases disposed of by courts. In essence, backlogs grew to 1.6 lakh rape cases. The situation demands prioritising heinous offences and quickly settling the Covid-related offences without letting them be a drag – through handy options like Lok Adalats or by governments withdrawing them.

NCRB also throws light on states clamping down on protest. UP’s resort to Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act (logging nearly half of India’s 4,500 cases) gives it the dubious record of accounting for nearly 40% of offences against the state in India. Across states, 50,000 rioting and 10,000 unlawful assembly cases were lodged, a 12% rise from 2019. But many categories of rioting offences saw abysmally low conviction rates, in the 10-20% range. They also saw high court pendencies of over 96%.

The futility of widespread application of sedition charge is evident from the police adding 73 cases in 2020 to 157 pending investigations from previous years. Courts initiated 23 sedition trials apart from 86 pending from previous years, and disposed of merely six cases by year end (four of them acquittals). Ultimately, NCRB’s data makes a strong case for expediting judicial appointments given the huge pendency rate and improving the quality of policing, evident from low conviction rates in many heinous offences. Will policymakers act?