2012 - Bureau of Police Research and Development

CHAPTER 11compared to the total pendency and disposalachieved during the year.The conviction rate is the percentage ofcases convicted to total cases trial and disposedoff. In 2011, conviction rate was 41.1% whichincreased marginally as compared to 40.7%in 2010. Conviction rate is an indicator ofinadequacies in the Criminal Justice System ingeneral and investigation and prosecution inparticular. In order to win the faith of citizensin the criminal justice system, all its wingsshould contribute their efforts to improve theconviction rate. Highest conviction rate was,however, seen in the state of Mizoram during2011, which recorded 89.5% conviction ratefollowed by 88.0% in Nagaland and 84.3% inPuducherry.Disposal of cases under Special andLocal Laws (SLL) by CourtsAt All India level there were a total of84,72,922 SLL cases, including those broughtforward from the previous year, due for disposalby the Criminal Courts during 2011. The stateof Uttar Pradesh has reported the maximumof 30,28,892 cases under SLL category pendingfor trial, followed by 15,70,101 in Gujarat and12,87,632 in Maharashtra.The All India average pendency of SLL casesin courts i.e. net pendency after disposal duringthe year was at 57.9 percent. The pendency ofSLL cases by courts among states was reportedto be the highest (98.8%) in Arunachal Pradesh.The next in order was D & N Haveli (98.7%),followed by Manipur (97.1%). Details are givenin Table – 11.5. (Page No. 129)The conviction rate for SLL crimes wasmuch higher (90.5%) than that of IPC crimes(41.1%) at the national level. The highestconviction rate in SLL crimes among stateswas reported by D N Haveli and A N Island as(100%) followed by Uttrakhand (99.4%) andChhatisgarh (97.3%).Exhibits awaiting examination in theState and Regional FSLsThere were a total of 17,84,389 exhibits,including those carried forward from theprevious year pending for examination invarious Forensic Science Laboratories (FSLs)in the country during 2011. Out of these in12,54,840 exhibits examination was initiatedand these were disposed off, accountingfor 70.3% of the total exhibits awaitingexamination. As many as 5,29,549 (29.7%)exhibits remained pending for disposal as on1.1.2012.At state level the highest number of3,36,109 exhibits were disposed of during theyear 2011 in Gujarat, followed by 2,52,851 inTamil Nadu and 1,70,960 in Punjab. PunjabState has reported highest number 1,21,325 ofexhibits pending examination as on 1.1.2012.The next in the order was Odisha 85,298followed by Kerala 72,825. Details are given inTable – 11.6. (Page No. 130)Slow disposal of exhibits has a whiplasheffect on the entire chain of investigation,trial and conviction of criminal cases. It alsohampers and slows down the investigationprocess. Increasing the capacity in ourForensic Science Laboratories (FSL) is called forurgently. Automation of Testing Machines andrecruitment of experts in adequate numbersfor testing labs (FSLs) is also likely to help andsolve this problem significantly which is beingattempted under the Modernization of PoliceForces Scheme (MPF Scheme) launched by theCentral Governments jointly with the StateGovernments with effect from the financialyear 2000-01.120