E-Paper
At 11%, conviction rate of Pune at five-year low
At an alarmingly low 11% till December 16 this year, the rate of conviction for both serious and non-serious crimes in the city remains a cause for concern for the new police commissioner
At an alarmingly low 11% till December 16 this year, the rate of conviction for both serious and non-serious crimes in the city remains a cause for concern for the new police commissioner. While the conviction rate touched a high of 43% in 2019, it dropped to 32% in 2020 and 26% in 2021. In a review meeting held by the newly-appointed police commissioner, Retesh Kumaar, the police shared a detailed presentation related to the conviction rate for serious and non-serious crimes.
About the abysmally low conviction rate, Kumaar, in an interview with the Hindustan Times, said, “The Maharashtra conviction rate is around 50%. We need to reach that range. Yesterday, I took a review meeting regarding the city’s conviction rate and found that it is very low. Hence, we have decided to implement a support monitoring system to increase liaisoning with the prosecution and communication with witnesses to increase the conviction rate.”
Officials said that serious concern was raised at the review meeting over the rate of conviction showing a consistent decline from 2019 onwards. The concerned officers were asked to submit a detailed analysis on the decline in the conviction rate during the meeting.
According to data shared by the Pune city police, the conviction rate in 2019 stood at 43% wherein a total 5,462 cases were cleared out of which 2,339 were convicted. In 2020, the conviction rate was 32% with a total 1,591 cases cleared out of which 505 were convicted. In 2021, the conviction rate was 26% wherein a total 2,808 cases were cleared out of which 750 were convicted. In 2022, Pune city police have achieved a conviction rate of only 11% wherein a total 6,170 cases have been cleared so far with 605 cases convicted.
Kumaar said that there was a delay in cases due to the outbreak of Covid-19 which in turn lowered the conviction rate. Kumaar was head of the state criminal investigation department (CID) before being appointed police commissioner of the city. Kumaar said that whatever he learned in the CID needs to be implemented here. He said that the main focus should be on training officers in this specific area. Senior police officials said that one of the reasons for the data reflecting a decline in conviction rate is that cases filed during the pandemic-induced lockdown were only recently cleared by the courts. Hence, the conviction status for most such cases is almost zero.
