‘India’s criminal justice system is in ICU’
LUDHIANA: India’s criminal justice system is in ICU and unless drastic measures are taken to revive it, the adage “justice delayed is justice denied” would become true, Rajya Sabha MP and eminent jurist KTS Tulsi warned here on Monday. “India’s justice system is in ICU... and unless drastic measures are taken for its revival, the adage ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ will be proven right,” he said.
Tulsi made the observation while speaking at a seminar on the criminal justice system in India, organised by Ludhiana Management Association here.
Pointing out the existence of a plethora of laws entailing repeated amendments, Tulsi rued that “the justice delivery system was pathetic, resulting in low conviction rates and failing to serve as a deterrent for The justice delivery system was pathetic, resulting in low conviction rates and failing to serve as a deterrent for those committing crimes, says KTS Tulsi
those committing crimes.”
The noted ‘criminal’ lawyer said the country’s criminal justice mechanism suffers from lack of judiciary’s accountability and cooperation between its investigation and prosecution wings, allowing criminals go scot free.
Even if they are charged, they manage to wriggle out either due to botchy investigation or lackadaisical prosecution, he said.
Expressing his concern over the huge pendency of criminal cases and the tardy pace of their disposal, Tulsi said at the present rate, it would take up to 300 years to clear the backlog.
Highlighting the “distressing state of affairs” in the criminal justice system, Tulsi compared India’s meagre conviction rate of 21.2 per cent for cognisable offences with those of the USA and Japan, which have a conviction rate of over 98 per cent. Listing procedural delays as yet another malady plaguing the country’s criminal justice system, Tulsi said this affliction has resulted in more than 60 per cent of the prisoners being undertrials.
“This is a travesty of justice that we keep accused in jails for long periods, often without sufficient evidence,” he said.
Stressing upon “the need for a paradigm shift” in the criminal justice deliver mechanism, Tulsi said, “We need to change our mindset for having more and more laws, increasing the sentence and denying bail as deterrents against committing crimes.”
“We rather need to have a more effective and professional investigation system, better management of court procedures, reduction of court holidays and modernisation of police stations for having a fast and deterrent justice delivery system,” he added.
He said the judiciary should be made accountable for timely delivery of justice with provisions for abatement of criminal cases, not decided within a prescribed time limit. He said “the sad state of affairs is due to our unwillingness and inability to make the courts accountable for delays due to the impending threat of being charged for the contempt of court.”