Criminal Justice System… A Wake Up Call to Improve
| Author | Vaibhav Krishna |
| Date | 01 June 2020 |
| Published date | 01 June 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120916886 |
| Subject Matter | Note |
Criminal Justice System…
A Wake Up Call to
Improve
Vaibhav Krishna1
It is immensely painful to note the kind of incidents like the ones that happened
in Hyderabad and Unnao in late 2019. One thing which is common in these
incidents that happened in a south-eastern city and another northern city of the
country is that serious concerns are being raised about the effectiveness of
the Criminal Justice System (CJS) of the country. The effectiveness of the whole
CJS is at stake. Though the merits of the police encounter on the outskirts of
Hyderabad, killing all the four accused in the heinous rape and murder of a young
doctor are not being debated, questions need to be asked about the efficacy of the
CJS built over a period of time.
First, it is necessary to find out why there is resistance on the part of the police
not to file a First Information Report (FIR). The National Police Commission
(1978–1982) mentioned non-registration of crime as one of the major problems
afflicting the Indian police. The Malimath Committee (2001–2003) on reforms to
the CJS sought to remove the distinction between cognisable and non-cognisable
offences so that registration of crimes could increase. The Second Administra-
tive Reforms Commission (2005) recommended that the performance of police
stations should be assessed on the basis of the cases successfully detected and
prosecuted and not on the basis of number of cases registered to eliminate the
‘widely prevalent malpractice of burking of cases’. A Bureau of Police Research
and Development (BPR&D)-sponsored research, conducted by the Tata Institute
of Social Sciences in 2016, concluded that the number of FIRs not registered
is approximately equal to the number of FIRs actually registered and further
concluded that non-registration of an FIR leads to lawlessness in society. It is
evident from the analysis that non-registration of FIRs is a problematic issue.
While this problem of ‘non-registration of FIR’ persists, it needs to be analysed
whether all the complaints which primarily disclose the commission of a
cognisable offence need to be registered as FIR and investigation started. Do
Note
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
66(2) 256–260, 2020
© 2020 IIPA
Reprints and permissions:
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DOI: 10.1177/0019556120916886
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An abbreviated version of this Note was published as an editorial in Dainik Jagran dated 18 December
2019.
1 Vaibhav Krishna is an IPS Officer of UP Cadre.
Corresponding author:
Vaibhav Krishna IPS, Uttar Pradesh Police Headquarters, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
E-mail: vaibhav.krishna12@gmail.com
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