Criminal Justice System in India

Criminal Justice system refers to the agencies of government charged with enforcing law, adjudicating crime, and correcting criminal conduct. It is essentially an instrument of social control: society considers some behaviours so dangerous and destructive that it either strictly controls their occurrence or outlaws them outright. It is the job of the agencies of justice to prevent these behaviours by apprehending and punishing transgressors or deterring their future occurrence.

India’s Criminal Justice System will be helpful for UPSC IAS Exam preparation. GS Paper-2 Polity & Governance.

Table of Content:

• Criminal Justice System in India
• Components of Criminal justice system
• Purpose of Criminal justice system
• Why is there a need for reforms in the criminal justice system in India?
• Suggestions
• Conclusion
• Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Criminal Justice System in India

• India’s criminal justice system is based on the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which was enacted in 1860.
• This code lays down the laws and procedures that govern criminal activities in the country.
• The criminal justice system is responsible forensuring that offenders are brought to justice and that victims are provided with justice.
• The system also ensures that those accused of criminal activities are treated fairly and are given their due rights.

Components of the Criminal Justice System

The criminal justice system in India is composed of three main components:

The Police:

• The police are the first point of contact for those affected by crime.
• They are responsible for collecting evidence and apprehending criminals.
• The police investigate crime scenes, collect evidence, and interrogate suspects.
• They are also responsible for maintaining law and order in the country.

The Judiciary:

• The judiciary is responsible for making sure that trials are conducted fairly and that justice is served.
• Judges preside over criminal trials and make sure that the accused are given their due rights.

The Correctional system:

• It is responsible for rehabilitating offenders and preventing them from committing crimes in the future.

What is the purpose of the Criminal Justice System?

• The primary purpose of the criminal justice system is to ensure that justice is served.
• To ensure that the guilty are punished and that those who have been wronged are compensated.
• It is also responsible for ensuring that those accused of criminal activities are treated fairly and that they are given their due rights.
• It also serves as a deterrent to crime, as offenders are held accountable for their actions.
• It provides a sense of security to the public, as criminals are brought to justice.
• It strives to ensure that the interests of society are safeguarded and that the public is protected from criminal activities.

Why is there a need for reforms in the criminal justice system in India?

Policing concentrated in urban areas:

• While 60% of India’s population lives in rural areas, the police forces are concentrated largely in urban areas.
• The population covered by each thana is far higher in the rural areas.
• Only 6 states/UTs meet the National Police Commission’s 1981 recommended area coverage of 150 sq km for a rural police station.

Police training academies are overloaded:

• For 26.88 lakh police personnel, India has only 211 training schools and academies.
• Training across fields including sensitisation, information on legal changes and courses for specialisation cannot be a one-off event for police personnel.
• However, with not enough training institutes and the ones that do exist training an average of 12,744 people every year, the scope for this is limited.

Prison overcrowding is getting worse:

• Prison populations have risen steadily from 4.81 lakh (2019) to 4.89 lakh (2020), and 5.54 lakh in 2021: while the number of people admitted to 1,319 prisons during 2021 increased by 10% to 18.1 lakh from 16.3 lakh the year before.
• However, with infrastructure not keeping up, prison overcrowding which is already a major problem is only getting worse.
• Nationally, roughly 30% of the prisons record occupancy rates of 150% and above, and 54% prisons run above 100% capacity.
• More than half of the prisons in 23 states/UTs are overcrowded.
• Inhuman and ill-treatment of prisoners and lack of health and hygiene has become a common scenario in prisons.

Number of under trial prisoners increasing:

• Prisons in the country are filled with undertrial prisoners, leading to the problem of overcrowded jails.
• Reports from 2020 reveal that 70% of the population in prison consists of under-trial prisoners.
• The period of detention of undertrials is also increasing, indicating that trials are taking longer or bail is being granted in less cases.
• This is also an infringement of their fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Cases pending per judge rising:

• Cases taking a long time to come to a conclusion is not a new problem in India; much of this has also been seen as an outcome of judicial vacancies across the country.
• Pending cases in the court which result in delayed justice. According to a maxim, “justice delayed is justice denied”.
• The reports for 2022 reveal that almost 4.7 crore cases are pending in the courts.
• Thus, there is a need to reform the laws and the criminal justice system must be made more concerned with speedy trial and justice.

Lack of judges:

• The courts in India suffer from a shortage of judges, which puts pressure on the judiciary as there is an increase in the number of cases pending in the courts.
• According to the statistics and reports, there are 19 judges for approximately 10 lakh people in the country, revealing a huge shortage.

Share of women high court judges remains low:

• While the representation of women judges in the subordinate courts is rising, the same cannot be said about the high courts.
• Between 2020 and 2022, the high court’s saw a little less than two percentage point increase in women’s representation.

Suggestions

• There is need to focus on safety and security in rural area by increasing the number of police stations and meet the recommendation of the National Police Commission’s 1981.
• The scope of police training should be increased and they should be made more sensitive towards marginalised sections of society.
• There is a need making adequate arrangements for food, clothing, sanitation, etc. in prisons.
• Appointment of women staff in the police for handling women and child offenders.
• There is need for establishment of more fast-track courts for speedy trial of cases to reduce the burden of under trail prisoners.
• There is an urgent need to fill in the vaccines of judges to address the pending cases in the country.  

Conclusion

The criminal justice system is composed of the police, the judiciary, and the correctional system. The aim of the criminal justice system is to ensure that justice is served and that those accused of criminal activities are treated fairly but there is a need to solve certain issues and fill the gaps in the criminal justice system in India in order to provide fair justice.

Ref:Source-1

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FAQs(frequently asked question)