April - June 2010 - Bureau of Police Research and Development

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Conviction Rate : A Reality CheckA well defined sentencing policy can ensurethe first two, once the accused is convicted.This also brings us to an important issue. What isthe best parameter to define/ascertain the efficacyof a criminal justice system? As stated above, thethree most important factors that most closelydetermine the effectiveness of a criminal justicesystem are time taken to complete the proceedings,quantum of punishment and certainty of punishment.A weighted average of the three would, therefore,be the best parameter for determining howeffective a system is. These three, in turn, may bemeasured in terms of time taken to complete trialand dispose of any resultant appeals/revisions,quantum of sentence as a percentage of maximumpunishment for all the offences for which a person isprosecuted and number of eligible offenders optingfor plea bargaining respectively.There is a strong case for setting up separate fulltime appellant courts. Presently, Judges in the HighCourts and Supreme Court deal with mix of allmatters including appeals. Current matters receivepriority and appeals are taken up only if time permits.Separate full time courts will bring down thependency considerably. After all, no new evidenceis adduced at the stage of appeal. Only the caserecord of the trial court is examined. In the CBI,judgments are scrutinized at multiple levels (PP, SP,DLA, DIG, JD & HO) in a short span of 90 days fordeciding whether to file an appeal or not. Scrutiny ateach level does not take more than one day and ismore of an academic exercise. It should be possibleto easily outsource this job in a manner that chancesof unfair decisions are also ruled out. Panel of retiredJudges can be constituted and assigned appeals tobe decided on the same day. This will ensure speedydisposal and fair play.Special IssuesIn all police organisations, old records are weededout at regular intervals. In the CBI, case files areweeded out 5 years after closure of the file i.e. afterthe matter is allowed to rest. Considerable difficultywas faced while compiling data in the instant studybecause records of several cases have beendestroyed. According to author, case files contain awealth of data. Lot of research can be done on thebasis of this data for betterment of the criminal justicesystem. It is, therefore, strictly recommended that acopy of the FIR, FRs, comments of senior officers,case diaries, charge sheet and judgments of thetrial court and appellant courts should be preservedin the form of a folder and kept in the unit library.Although, space is not a very big consideration, yetif it is felt otherwise, we may retain only soft copies.Archiving needs to be put in place in policeorganisations.There is too much focus on deadlines and crimestatistics in police. Please remember: as the abovefindings clearly show, investigation takes less than10% of the total time in the criminal proceedings.Therefore, police hierarchy should stop worryingabout over 2 years, over 1 year and over 6 month oldcases. Instead, focus should shift to the quality ofinvestigation.Police top brass, especially in the CBI, is too busy inday-to-day operations. They hardly play any role inthe improvement of the criminal justice system. Assenior police officers, it is our duty to work closelywith policy makers (law makers, Law Ministry, LawCommission etc.) and make concrete suggestionsto get the laws amended. Nobody is closer to groundrealities than us. We just have to lift our head andlook around.Let us stop worrying about crime statistics for achange !A word of caution here. The objective of thestudy was to bring out the stark realities/maladiesafflicting the criminal justice system as a wholeand to draw attention to the urgent need forimproving the basics of criminal investigationand prosecution. The fact that the data pertainsto a particular branch of the CBI is a merecoincidence. The results are not expected to bemuch different had it been from any otherinvestigating agency, namely, the state police oreven a non-police agency. Further, as the data32 ➢ The Indian Police Journal Vol. LVII-No. 2, April-June, 2010
Conviction Rate : A Reality Checkpertained to an Anti Corruption Branch of CBIsituated in a particular state, the above mentionedfindings/recommendations relate more to anticorruption work in that State. Even thoughsituation in other states is not likely to be verydifferent, it is recommended to carry out similarstudies and arrive at conclusions applicable tothe whole country.AcknowledgementShri Mukesh Bansal, Sub Inspector providedinvaluable assistance in collecting data for this study.He was ably assisted by Shri Ranjeet Meena,Inspector; Shri Ravi Banawat, Sub Inspector andShri U.K.Sharma, Sub Inspector, all from the CBI.Thank them for their assistance.AnnexureYear-Wise Result Of AnalysisYear 1980In the year 1980, the branch registered a total of 32Regular Cases. The result of investigation, trial,appeals and revisions is as under :-Result of Investigation :Total number of accused 86 (Public Servants:persons investigated: 69, Private Persons:17)Number of accused 27 (31%)persons charge sheeted:Average time taken in 10.6 monthsinvestigation:Result of Trial of 27 charge sheeted accused:Acquittals: 8Convictions: 19Average time taken for trial: 6 years8 monthsAccused wise conviction rate: 19/27 × 100= 70.37 %Break up of 19 convicted persons:Released on probation: 03Underwent imprisonment:NilAppeal filed: 16Result of appeal:Accused expired during pendency 02of appeal:Acquitted by appellant court: 05Conviction upheld and accused 04released on probation:Appeals still pending: 03Conviction upheld but accused 02filed revision in HC (still pending):Average time taken in deciding appeal: 12years 9months(calculated on the basis of 10 appeals which havebeen decided)Year 1981In the year 1981, the branch registered a total of 50Regular Cases. The result of investigation, trial,appeals and revisions is as under:-Result of Investigation:Total number of accused 135 (Publicpersons investigated: Servants: 89,Private Persons: 46).Number of accused 70 (51.85%)persons charge sheeted:Average time taken in 14 monthsinvestigation:Result of Trial of 70 charge sheeted:Accused expired during trial: 01Acquitted: 19Discharged: 06Convicted: 34Pending trial: 10Average time taken for trial: 7 years 10monthsAccused wise conviction rate: 34/59 x100=57.62 %Break up of 34 convicted persons:Released on probation: 01Underwent imprisonment: 01Appeal filed: 32The Indian Police Journal Vol. LVII-No. 2, April-June, 2010 33➢
Page 1: Vol. LVII-No.2APRIL-JUNE, 2010Edito
Page 4 and 5: Abstracts & Key WordsPolice Sub-Cul
Page 9 and 10: Police Sub-Culture : An Adaptation
Page 11 and 12: Police Sub-Culture : An Adaptation
Page 13 and 14: IntroductionSingapore Community Pol
Page 15 and 16: Singapore Community Policing Experi
Page 17 and 18: Singapore Community Policing Experi
Page 19 and 20: Relevance of KPAs & KPIs in Policin
Page 25 and 26: Conviction Rate : A Reality CheckSh
Page 27 and 28: Conviction Rate : A Reality Checkor
Page 29 and 30: Conviction Rate : A Reality Checkof
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Page 35 and 36: Conviction Rate : A Reality CheckCo
Page 37 and 38: Cell Tower Radiation Hazard: Need f
Page 39 and 40: Cell Tower Radiation Hazard: Need f
Page 41 and 42: Detection of Lorazepam from Human V
Page 47 and 48: Domestic Violence against Women and
Page 49 and 50: Domestic Violence against Women and
Page 51 and 52: IntroductionA Study of Burnout and
Page 53 and 54: A Study of Burnout and Marital Adju
Page 59 and 60: anger has emanated against Pakistan
Page 61 and 62: e overcome and citizens forums and
Page 63 and 64: Marital Rape : The Assasination of
Page 73 and 74: Silence of the Law on Marital RapeG
Page 75 and 76: Silence of the Law on Marital Rapea
Page 77 and 78: Silence of the Law on Marital Rapeo
Page 79 and 80: Silence of the Law on Marital Rapeb
Page 81 and 82: CorrigendumIn Jan-March, 2010 issue
Page 83:
James M Klatell (Aug 2006) : Bomb T
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April - June 2010 - Bureau of Police Research and Development

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