According to the India Justice Report of 2022 of delivery of justice, Karnataka ranked top, Tamil Nadu came second, Telangana third; and Uttar Pradesh ranked the lowest.
According to the India Justice Report (IJR) 2022, Karnataka has topped the “charts of justice” among the 18 large and mid-sized states with a population over one crore. Tamil Nadu came second; Telangana ranked third; and Uttar Pradesh came at rank 18 which is the lowest.
The delivery of justice over India is poor overall, normally, taking years for victims to get justice. It is recorded that all over the nation, there is a severe shortage of judges:
The dearth of judges and infrastructure spiked up pendency, increasing caseloads, and declining case clearance rates (CCR) in lower courts overall. As of December 2022, the High Courts were functioning with only 778 judges against a sanctioned strength of 1,108 judges.
Problems Faced Nationally
Pendency:
Pending cases are spiking up per judge, in most states of India over the last five years, while the sanctioned strength has remained the same.
The average pendency in High Courts is highest in Uttar Pradesh (11.34 years) and West Bengal (9.9 years), while it is lowest in Tripura (1 year), Sikkim (1.9 years), and Meghalaya (2.1 years).
Rising Caseloads:
The caseload per judge has steadily increased, with the caseload per judge increasing in 22 states and Union Territories between 2018 and 2022.
Case Clearance Rate:
The CCR in High Courts improved by six percentage points (88.5% to 94.6%) between 2018-19 and 2022 but declined by 3.6 points in lower courts (93% to 89.4%).
High Courts are increasingly clearing more cases annually than subordinate courts.
In 2018-19, only four High Courts had a CCR of 100% or more. In 2022, this more than doubled to 12 High Courts.
Court Halls:
Nationally, the number of court halls appears sufficient for the number of actual judges, but space will become a problem if all the sanctioned posts are filled.
In August 2022, there were 21,014 court halls for the 24,631 sanctioned judges’ posts, a shortfall of 14.7%
Why are scales of justice dipping low in Uttar Pradesh?
- High crime rates: India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh has one of the highest crime rates in India, which can put a strain on the justice system and make it difficult to deliver justice in a timely manner. While Yogi Adityanath says Gunda Raj is over, violent crimes peaked in UP in 2016, when it reported around 30 such crimes per 1 lakh population, which was still below the national average of 33 that year. The crime rate has declined slowly since then, reaching 22.7 in 2021 against the national average of 30.2 in the same year.
- According to the latest available National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, in 2018, the state outdid other states in crimes against women (59,445 crimes) — a 7 percent increase from 2017. It also recorded the highest number of gang rapes and the second-highest number of rapes (4,323 cases) in the country. Dowry deaths, crimes against children, and crimes against senior citizens, all recorded an increase from 2017. 131 elderly people were murdered in 2018, compared to 129 killed in 2017. The state ranked highest in reported murders, 4,324 cases in 2017 — the last year for which NCRB’s disaggregated data is available.
- Overburdened courts: The state has a large population, and the number of courts and judges may not be enough to handle the volume of cases. The shortage of judges and infrastructure is a significant concern for the Indian judiciary, leading to a rise in pendency and declining CCR in lower courts. The government needs to address this issue by filling vacant judge posts, providing adequate infrastructure, and taking measures to improve the efficiency of the judicial system.
- Fewer court halls: Nationally, the number of court halls appears adequate for the number of actual judges, but space will be problematic if all the sanctioned posts are filled. It is reported that in August 2022, there were 21,014 court halls for the 24,631 sanctioned judges’ posts, a shortfall of 14.7%
- Backlog of cases: Due to the massive volume of cases and the limited number of judges and courts, there may be a significant backlog of cases that can delay justice.
- Corruption: Corruption can also be a factor in the justice system, and it can undermine the effectiveness and fairness of the system. The gun culture is still running high in Uttar Pradesh with people shot in broad daylight known as the number one state when it comes to the gun culture. Citizens have more guns that the police! News Unlocked throws light on Uttar Pradesh’s notorious gun culture that is spiralling by the day. Despite India having one of the most stringent gun laws in the world, the number of guns available on the ground only seems to be increasing. Recently, the daylight murder of Roshni Ahiwar by Raj Ahiwar and another sparked outrage in Uttar Pradesh
- There is an urgent requirement for more sophisticated police training and infrastructure, reducing overcrowding in prisons, and improving the speed and efficiency of the judicial system.
In conclusion, there should be greater concentration on addressing the needs of victims of crime, including improving access to legal aid and victim compensation schemes.
By dealing with these arduous challenges, Uttar Pradesh can advance in achieving a more equitable and effective criminal justice system. It is possible, but there would need to be a lot of infrastructural change to enable this as soon as possible.