Hyderabad: The criminal justice system in Telangana and AP has the lowest rate of convictions in South India. Burdened by a huge judicial backlog, the judiciary could convict only less than 38 per cent of those accused.
The Kerala judiciary’s conviction rate is 82 per cent and Tamil Nadu’s 63 per cent, says National Crime Records Bureau data. Police says that most criminal cases collapse in court as witnesses turn hostile.
Due to backlogs trials drag for a long time and the statements of victims and witnesses start differing from those recorded in FIRs. Defence lawyers take advantage of this.
NCRB data says that AP courts had over 1.7 lakh cases pending and Telangana courts 2.1 lakh cases by 2015-end.
While legal experts blame cops for lousy investigation, senior cops say that it’s because of the large number of FIRs and shortage of hands. Cops also say that the incompetence of public prosecutors also contribute to low conviction rates.
“The delays in trial due to adjournments and the inability of public prosecutors to present cases also weakens the case even if investigation is done properly.
Many PPs are appointed on political grounds and not on merit. Some lazy PPs do not file counters in court,” said a senior TS police official.
Police also says that the backlog burden makes it difficult to probe cases efficiently. Every officer has to handle hundreds of cases. They also have to look after other duties.
Another major challenge police and public prosecutors face is witnesses turning hostile. “Criminals bribe witnesses. Even if the case is presented with all evidence witnesses can wreck it,” said a PP.
Experts say that backlogs can be reduced only by rejecting trivial cases and by increasing the number of judges.
