E-Paper
City’s conviction rate drops to 18% in 2023 from 25% in 2021
The police chief at a recent review meeting of conviction status instructed the zonal deputy commissioner of police to study cases and fix responsibility
Pune: The drop in city’s conviction rate to 18% in 2023 from 25% in 2021 should be one of the main concerns for the newly appointed Pune police commissioner. While the conviction rate of sessions cases touched 25% in 2021, it dropped to 15% in 2022 and 18% in 2023. The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) conviction rate dropped from 51% in 2019 to 4% in 2023.
The police chief at a recent review meeting of conviction status instructed the zonal deputy commissioner of police to study cases and fix responsibility.
As per the data shared by the Pune city police, the conviction rate (session) in 2019 stood at 16% against 14,589 filed cases. In 2020, the rate was 23% for 34,232 cases. In 2021, the figure was 25% (11,374 cases) and 15% (12,658 cases) in 2022
The city recorded 18% conviction rate for 14,536 cases in 2023.
For JMFC cases, the figures were 51% (2019), 5% (2020), 27% (2021), 10% (2022) and 4% (2023).
According to officials, one of the reasons for decline in conviction rate is that cases filed during the Covid pandemic-induced lockdown were only recently cleared by courts.
The conviction rate in Maharashtra has dropped from 58.29% in 2020 to 41.36% in the first half of 2023. The state government is seeking a report on the situation and plans to tweak rules to hold public prosecutors and investigating officers accountable.
Police have decided to implement a support monitoring system to increase liaisoning with the prosecution and communication with witnesses to increase the conviction rate.
Amol Zende, deputy commissioner of police (crime) said, “We have decided to implement a monitoring system and provide help to the prosecution to facilitate conviction.”
Amitesh Kumar, Pune police commissioner, said, “We have decided that zonal DCP should adopt 10 cases (sessions court) like murder, rape, POCSO and offer help to get desired results. We will sensitise officers, prosecution and investigation officers to expedite the process.”
Devendra Fadnavis, after taking over as chief minister and home minister in 2014, took some major steps in 2015 to improve the conviction rate. The home department issued 14 government resolutions to bring about changes in the policies related to crime investigation and court battles.
