Karnataka tops in India Justice Report ’20 police, diversity rankings

• Karnataka has topped the ‘Police’ and ‘Diversity’ rankings in the second edition of the India Justice Report (IJR) 2020 for having highest SC, ST and OBC diversity for officers, increased number of women in the police force and decreasing vacancies in officers and constables posts.

• In the ‘Diversity’ segment, the study recognises Karnataka as the “only state to meet its officer diversity quotas (SC, ST and OBC) among large and mid-sized states.” Chhattisgarh (among small states) is the other state to meet these quotas for constables, the report states.

• Karnataka has however, slipped a few notches on justice delivery from its earlier seventh rank in 2019 to 16th in the recent report with fewer women panel lawyers, few front offices in legal service institutions (LSIs) and fewer cases disposed of by Lok Adalats. Karnataka has also lost its ranking in prison administration for poor budget utilisation, more staff and cadre vacancy and increased workload.

Women only 29% of judges in India: Study

Maharashtra, along with Goa have topped in the legal aid (justice delivery) segment. Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh rank highest in prison administration and Tamil Nadu and Sikkim are on the top in the judiciary segment with more courtrooms, more high court judges and decrease in case pendency.

The IJR is the only ranking of states on delivery of justice to people. It is an initiative of Tata Trusts in collaboration with the Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, DAKSH, TISS–Prayas, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and How India Lives.

The report has made some important observations about the role of police — from custodians of the law to frontline service providers during the pandemic. The IJR 2020 has taken into account the latest statistics and situations as they existed prior to March 2020.

“It brings together otherwise siloed statistics from authoritative government sources, on the four pillars of justice delivery – Police, Judiciary, Prisons and Legal Aid.” According to the study, “women comprise only 29 per cent of judges in India. Two-thirds of the country’s prisoners are yet to be convicted. In the last 25 years, since 1995, only 1.5 crore people have received legal aid, though 80 per cent of the country’s population is entitled to it,” the IJR states.