India Justice Report, 2022: Key Highlights

India Justice Report

• The IJR is an initiative of Tata Trusts in collaboration with Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative among others.
• It was first published in 2019.

• 60% of India’s population lives in rural areas, yet police forces are concentrated largely in urban areas.
• Only six states meet the recommended area coverage of 150 sq. km for a rural police station.

• Increase recruitment and training of police personnel in rural areas to ensure adequate coverage.
• Increase police-community engagement and build trust in rural communities.

• India has only 211 training schools and academies for 26.88 lakh police personnel.
• Training across fields cannot be a one-off event for police personnel.

• Increase the number of training institutes and the number of personnel trained each year.
• Allocate a larger portion of the police budget to training.

• Prison populations have risen steadily with the number of people admitted to 1,319 prisons during 2021 increasing by 10.8%.
• The average prison in the country has an occupancy rate of 130%. In some states, this number is far worse.

• Invest in building new prisons and expanding existing ones.
• Explore alternative forms of punishment and rehabilitation for non-violent offenders.

• 77% of the incarcerated population comprises undertrials.
• This number has nearly doubled since 2010.

• Streamline legal processes to reduce the number of undertrials.
• Increase the use of bail and release on personal recognizance.

• 4.9 Crore cases remain pending across high courts and district courts in the country.
• Many cases have been pending for over 10 years.

• Increase the number of judges to reduce the backlog of cases.
• Modernize court processes with technology to streamline proceedings.

• Between 2020 and 2022, there was a little less than a two percentage point increase in women’s representation in high courts.
• Women account for 35% of the total number of judges at the district court level.

• Implement policies to encourage more women to become judges.
• Provide training and support for women judges to advance in their careers.

• No state/UT could fully meet all its quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes.

• Increase recruitment of judges from marginalized communities.
• Implement policies to encourage and support their advancement in the judiciary.

• Over the last two years, the overall allocation for legal services has increased substantially.
• No state/UT used its entire budget allocation for legal aid.

• Ensure efficient utilization of resources for legal aid.
• Implement monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track the impact of legal aid on access to justice.

• Implementation of victim compensation schemes “remains subpar.”
• State Legal Aid Service Authorities disposed of only 66% of the 97,037 applications seeking compensation received.

• Increase awareness of victim compensation schemes. Improve efficiency in processing and disposing of compensation applications.
• Provide support services for victims, including legal and mental health services.