India Justice Report 2020

The 2020 India Justice Report is prepared by Tata Trusts in collaboration with the Centre for Social Justice, DAKSH, Common Cause, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, and Commonwealth Human Rights, that highlights the current justice system of the country about the analysis of expenditure, police, women safety, HR and legal aid. The overall ranking of the state is a result of the state’s condition and justice delivery system based on 4 pillars- Police, Legal, Prison, and Judiciary System.

Introduction

2020 India Justice Report, by Tata Trusts, is mainly about describing the current functioning of legal systems in India, from every aspect, it is the analysis of the pandemic year in terms of safety, infrastructure, healthcare, startups, HR, legal aid, and change in diversity among 18 big states and 7 medium states with around 1 crore population and the union territories.

Key Highlights of INDIAN JUSTICE REPORT 2020

1. Justice System

In this Maharashtra tops the list among 18 big states for the second time, as the reports suggested. Other top 4 followed are Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Punjab, and Kerala. Among the 18 states, and union territories, the worst justice delivery system is in Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh in more population states, and in small states the best is Tripura, Goa followed by Sikkim and worst is Himachal Pradesh.

2. Women Ratio in Judiciary

• A total of 29% of judges in High Courts, in the country, are women, but other than Sikkim no state has over 20% women judge in it.

• Bihar, Uttarakhand and Tripura has no women judge in High Court.

• Andhra Pradesh increases the percentage of women High Court Judge by 19% followed by Haryana (18.2%) and Tamil Nadu (16.7%).

3. Finance

• In the last 25 years, only 1.5 crore people have received legal aid with the government spending 1.05 per capita in session 2019-20 from 75 paise in 2017-18 session.

4. Social Justice

•  Karnataka is the only state to meet its quotas for SC, ST, and OBCs category in office cadre and the constables.    

5. Women Ratio in Police

• Bihar tops the list, with the availability of more women police in its police force.
• More than 20% women’s account but only 6.1% is in officers category.
• Gujarat is the only state that saw a gradual increase in women’s employment, under the police department.

6. Prison

• Rajasthan is on top under this, due to better budget management and a decrease in the number of criminals in prisons, the non-BJP state.

• Himachal Pradesh showing slow improvement by improving its ranking from 6th  last year to 1st, due to well-trained prison staff.

• Except for Chandigarh, no High Court has a full complement bench of judges.

7. Legal Aid:

• National Legal Service Authority introduced paralegal Volunteers scheme. The share of women in the Para-Legal Volunteers Scheme is about 35%.
• Only in Meghalaya and Nagaland more than 50% women on a panel of lawyers.

8. Subordinate Court:

Among 27 states and several Union Territories, there’s only 1 subordinate court judge for every 50,000 people.

Conclusion

Overall analysis shows that the legal system needs urgent attention, whether it is in technology or any other field. Reports show many states improve their ranking by slow progress like Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Chattisgarh, while there are others like Madhya Pradesh, Haryana dropped behind, under BJP ruled, and the worst among is Uttar Pradesh.