Behind high convictions: The reality of green crime stats | Number Theory

Headline numbers on environmental crimes suggest that India does relatively better when it comes to tackling such crimes

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released the 2023 edition of the Crime in India report on Monday. This report is the official source of crime statistics and their disposal by the criminal justice system in India. Among the various sub-categories of crime for which the report gives data is the category of environmental crimes. Headline numbers on environmental crimes suggest that India does relatively better when it comes to tackling such crimes. However, reading the fine print of the

File photo

• 
  Environmental crimes have higher rate of charge sheets being filed and conviction and lower rate of pendency compared to other crimes

  These trends are ideal because they imply that investigations and trials are completed quickly and result in a culprit being found and punished. HT looked at data since 2018 , and they show that environmental crimes overall had a higher rate of charge sheets being filed than all crimes committed under Special and Local Laws (SLL), the overarching category of environmental crimes, and also cases filed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). When it comes to conviction by courts, environmental crimes appear to be prosecuted at an even better rate than both IPC and SLL crimes. In addition, pendency of environmental crimes with the police and the courts is also lower than for SLL and IPC crimes.
• 
  However, an overwhelming majority of environmental crimes relate to tobacco smoking, sale, and advertisements

  What is the reason behind the trends seen above? One reason could be that the NCRB lists cases filed under The Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 under environmental crimes. This law prohibits smoking in public places and regulates its sale, advertisement, and other aspects. It has also accounted for a large majority of environmental crimes in NCRB data: from around two-thirds of such crimes in 2018 and 2019 to at least 80% from 2020 onward. Another big chunk of such cases is from cases filed under different noise pollution laws. Noise pollution laws and the tobacco law have together accounted for 89% to 96% of environmental crimes between 2018 and 2023.
• 
  The disposal rates are much worse for laws which are meant to prevent serious environmental pollution

  That noise pollution laws and the tobacco law are boosting the conviction rate and charge-sheeting rate of environmental crimes can be seen by comparing these rates for different laws. Other than crimes under the two laws, environmental crimes have a similar or lower conviction and charge-sheeting rate than SLL crimes overall. The case is similar when looking at pendency in courts and with the police. Clearly, crimes that cause long-term and harder to fix damage to the environment are not being solved and prosecuted any better than the average SLL crime.
• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act had a conviction rate of zero in 2023

  This is a stark statistic from the 2023 Crime in India report, but not the starkest for the law. There were no convictions under the law in 2018 and 2020 too, but a conviction rate could not be calculated because all cases were pending. Why is this the case? One reason is that the law mostly established the NGT and defined its jurisdiction, composition, and powers. The only offence under the law relates to not following orders of the tribunal, which can be about other environmental laws. To be sure, that disobeying NGT’s orders does not result in convictions is not good news for the environment either. Why is conviction under the law low? This could be because of three reasons, Raj Panjwani, a senior advocate who works on cases related to the environment said: low awareness of the law among general population, a protracted and cumbersome process, and the fact that the evidence for environmental crimes is usually with the pollution control boards. The fine print of environmental crime statistics mean that the real picture on India’s efficacy in dealing with crimes which harm the environment is hazy at best, and definitely not as good as the headline numbers suggest.