E-Paper
Conviction rate in Maharashtra rises to 55.36% over past decade
Govt has succeeded in improving conviction rate in criminal cases in past decade; In 2011, the rate was 8.2%
The state government has succeeded in improving the conviction rate in criminal cases from 8.2% in 2011 to 55.36% in 2021, additional director-general (ADG) of police Ritesh Kumar said on Monday. If crime is under control, law and order will be under control and if law and order is under control, we can lead a prosperous life, he said at the ‘Apradhsiddhi Puraskar’, an annual event organised by the crime investigation department (CID), Pune.
As per information shared by the CID, the crime conviction rate in 2011 was 8.2%. ADG Kumar said that since 2008, the police have initiated a special campaign to increase the conviction rate which started showing results after 2011. In 2021, the conviction rate rose to 55.36%. In terms of districts, Nandurbar recorded the highest conviction rate at 92.13% followed by Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar police commissionerate at 89.63%, Mumbai railway at 86.67%, Raigad at 79.70%, Ratnagiri at 78.89% and Sindhudurg at 78.57%. But at the same time, the conviction rate in session commit cases is only around 18% and needs improvement.
Maharashtra is the only state in the country deploying the automated multi-model biometric identification system (AMBIS) under which the police are using iris scanner, palm print, foot print, and facial recognition advance technology for the detection of crimes. “We are the only state using AMBIS advance technology, hence we need to improve our detection speed. During the investigation, we need to use CCTNS data as well,” said Kumar.
Addressing the police personnel, he said that there are around 2 lakh police staffers and that they should aim at a conviction rate of 70 to 75% in the next five to 10 years even as the conviction rate in session commit cases should rise to at least 50%.
Retd. Bombay high court judge Narendra Chapalgaonkar said that the conviction rate is satisfactory. “If we are talking about the conviction rate, only if we provide the police with the necessary equipment can they deliver the desired results. Many police are occupied with VIP security and other non-detection works.” Chapalgaonkar further suggested that while security is among the important tasks for the police, a dedicated wing should be constituted for case detection.
Retd. DGP Maharashtra Praveen Dixit said that the conviction rate of around 18% in session cases needs to increase as all major crimes are categorised as ‘session commits’. “In the non-session commits, most of the cases are related to darubandi, property and body offence where we can generally observe a high conviction rate. But the conviction rate in ‘session commits’ matters a lot as all major crimes come under this category,” Dixit said. He stressed on the need for: witness protection, reduction in judicial delay and training of prosecutors to increase conviction rate.
