State & Police To Blame For 'Tarikh Pe Tarikh', Not Just Judges: Allahabad HC Directs Reforms To Tackle Criminal Case Delays

Invoking the famous "Tarikh pe Tarikh... milti hai to sirf tarikh" dialogue from the 1993 Bollywood film Damini, the Allahabad High Court recently observed that while this reflects the common man's perception of delayed justice, the massive pendency of criminal cases in district courts is not merely the fault of judicial officers, but primarily that of the State Government and the police.A bench of Justice Arun Kumar Deshwal added that a judicial officer can't decide cases without sufficient staff and the cooperation of the police to ensure the presence of the accused, witnesses and a proper FSL report, etc. "Many young judicial officers, who joined the judiciary though very honest and hardworking, having a motto to dispense justice after entering judicial service, found themselves unable to perform because of insufficient staff, non-cooperation by the police in the execution of court processes(summons ,warrants, etc.), and faulty investigation and improper FSL reports", the bench remarked. The Court stressed that such judicial officers become frustrated and look to the High Court for remedial measures, but even the High Court cannot do anything. It added that it is the State Government that must provide basic infrastructure, staff, the FSL report and police cooperation. The bench made these observations while issuing a slew of directions to tackle the structural, administrative and procedural deficiencies crippling the district judiciary. The Court was hearing a bail application of a murder accused where a blood-stained screwdriver was recovered, but the IO failed to seek a DNA matching query from the Forensic Science Laboratory to determine if the blood belonged to the deceased. Considering this glaring investigative lapse, the Court had earlier summoned the Director General of Police, the Secretary Home and the Director of the FSL, Uttar Pradesh. During the hearing, the FSL Director apprised the Court that out of the 12 functioning labs in the state, only 8 have DNA profiling facilities and the Labs face not only the shortage of staff but also of the latest machines required for forensic and ballistic tests. The bench was further informed that FSL is not an autonomous body under the Home Department but is part of the police department and for that reason, it is not administratively free to procure instruments or appoint staff. The DGP, on the other hand, informed that the process has been initiated to fill the vacancies in FSL so that FSL reports could be provided to the Court at the earliest. The Secretary (Home) also apprised the Court that the DGP has recommended to make the FSL a separate department under the Home Ministry and that is pending before the State Government for final approval. Finally, it was assured to the bench that the police officers would be given basic training in blood sample collection and the collection of forensic evidence. Against the backdrop of these submissions as well as based on a comprehensive study of multiple district courts, the High Court pinpointed that the heavy pendency is largely driven by insufficient ministerial staff, stenographers, deposition writers and also non-execution of the court's process by the police, as well as delay in receiving the forensic report. Importantly, the bench highlighted that, due to these systemic delays, many criminals continue to commit offences without fear, and even many of them have become MLAs, MPs, and Ministers. In this regard, the bench also referred to a report of the Association for Democratic Reform, which states that as of the date, 49% of Ministers in the U.P. Government are involved in criminal cases, of which 44% are involved in serious criminal cases. "Therefore, if sufficient staff and proper cooperation of police are provided to the district judiciary, then the disposal of criminal cases will become fast, and the persons who have been taking advantage of the pendency of criminal cases against them would be behind bars, and the innocent will get a clean chit and the person with clean antecedents will come forward for MLA, MP, or even for ministers", the bench observed. The Court also flagged the issue of personal security for judicial officers, as it noted Judges frequently face open threats in courtrooms and veiled intimidation in public places from criminals. It added that, unlike in Punjab and Haryana, personal security officers are not provided to all judicial officers in Uttar Pradesh, which adversely impacts their ability to function fearlessly and issue conviction orders against hardcore criminals. Against this backdrop, the bench issued the following directions: The State Government shall consider the issue of providing additional staff and infrastructure to the District Courts, considering the heavy workload of cases. The State Government shall consider making U.P. FSL an autonomous...

State & Police To Blame For 'Tarikh Pe Tarikh', Not Just Judges: Allahabad HC Directs Reforms To Tackle Criminal Case Delays

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State & Police To Blame For 'Tarikh Pe Tarikh', Not Just Judges: Allahabad HC Directs Reforms To Tackle Criminal Case Delays

Sparsh Upadhyay

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