India Justice Report 2020 launched: 29% of judges in India are women, 2/3rd prisoners in India are undertrial prisoners [Read Report]

The second edition of the Indian Justice Report, compiled to assess how India has fared in the delivery of justice in terms of various indicators concerning the working of the police, the judiciary, prisons and legal aid, was launched through a virtual event on Thursday afternoon. .The India Justice Report (IJR) is an initiative of Tata Trusts in collaboration with Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, DAKSH, TISS–Prayas, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and How India Lives..In this year's report, Maharashtra has emerged at the top among 18 large and mid-sized States when it comes to justice delivery, followed by Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Punjab and Kerala. Among the seven small States (having less than 1 crore population each( assessed, Tripura has emerged at the top, followed by Sikkim and Goa. .Among other findings, the report has ascertained that Women comprise only 29% of judges in India. There were 5 High Courts with no women Judges.Two-thirds of the country’s prison inmates are undertrial prisoners. In the last 25 years, since 1995, only 1.5 crore people have received legal aid, though 80% of the country’s population is entitled to it..Reports tells us where there is need for action: Justice Madan Lokur.The launch event also saw a special address by former Judge of the Indian Supreme Court, Justice Madan Lokur who noted that, "The rankings do not indicate that a particular State is the best... the significance of the information is that it tells us where there is a call for action.".As far as the judicial system is concerned, Justice Lokur took note of the large number of vaccancies that continue to persist. He remarked, ."Today’s newspapers point out, and this was a remark made by one of the judges of the Supreme Court on the hearing, perhaps yesterday, that 33% of the posts of High Court judges are lying vacant. That is a huge amount - 1/3rd. Why is that? Can we not do something about? Can the States not do something about it? Can the High Courts not to something about it? Can the Supreme Court not do something about?".Another issue pinpointed was the rising rates of case pendency. Justice Lokur observed, "It (pendency) has gone beyond 4 crores. I remember, fingers were pretty close to the panic button when it was about 2.5 crores. Now it is very much on the panic button. 4 crores is a huge, huge amount and the pandemic has not helped… the number is going to go up. How are we going to tackle all of this?".The various measures required to address these issues and other issues plaguing the judiciary should include carrying out a cost-benefit analyses, social audits and planned budgeting, Justice Lokur said. .He observed that under the 13th Finance Commission, Rs 5,000 crores were given for the judiciary. On the other hand, the amount actually spent in five years was about 20%. The 14th Finance Commission alloted Rs 10,000 crores, he observed, going on to remark:."I don’t know how much has been spent, but I can make a guess that if the judiciary could not spend 5,000 crores over a period of five years, there is no way it could have spent 10,000 crores over a period of five years." .He went on to observe, "We don’t know what to do with the money. We don’t know how to spend it. So even if the government is giving a lot of money, how do you actually utilise it?".While opining that the solutions may lie in using technology, case managament training, the issue is "where are we going to put it into action?"."That is where the IJR comes in", Justice Lokur said, given that the report gives data on the strengths and weaknesses of the system, and which areas should be prioritised..Justice delivery is not a pity plea: Maja Daruwala.Chief Editor Maja Daruwala, a senior advisor at Tata Trusts, remarked that the report aims at assessing the capacity of each State to deliver justice. .The report is the second such report that has been launched, the first having been launched for the year 2019. While providing an overview of the 2020 report that was launched on Thursday. Daruwala informed that 25 States have been ranked by assessing the four pillars of police, judiciary, legal aid and prison system through 87 indicators. .While the first report had confined to making broad suggestions for the way forway, Daruwala informed that this year's report puts forth more concrete suggestions, particularly since there as a pandemic. .Foremost among these suggestions is that the justice delivery system should become an essential service, akin to how food or education is viewed. Justice must be localised and the delivery of justice at the doorstep must be prioritised, she said. ."Justice delivery is not a pity plea. It is a right and there is a manifest duty to deliver it", Daruwala added, as she concluded her remarks. .Overall performance leaves a lot to be desired: Dr Rajiv Kumar, NITI Aayog.Following the virtual launch of the book, Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman of the NITI Aayog also gave a brief address, which saw him comment that the report aims to improve rankings, while recognising that one size does not fit all..Each state has its own peculiarities and problems which require their own distinctive way of handling it, he pointed out. .While opining that the overall scores of the States as found by the report leave a lot to be desired, he expressed hope that all States would take the report seriously. .In particular, Dr Kumar highlighted that India has not done well even globally when it comes to the ease of doing business rankings. In terms of contract enforcement, India ranks 163/190 he noted. With that kind of unpredictability and lag in contract enforcement, the investment climate is totally vitiated, he remarked. ."Enforcement of contract is the bedrock of a working investment economy. We at NITI Aayog would be keen to improve this aspect of our judicial system", he added, while underscored that without it, the economy, employment and the GDP would suffer. .Dr Kumar's address also saw him observe that the there is a need to combat the widespread cynicism of the public when it comes to the Indian judicary. In a way, the India Justice Report would help in this endeavour as it would throw light on the judicial system, by demystifying it and making it part of the public discourse. .Srinath N, Tata Trusts on the need for accurate, regular, consistent data.The opening remarks for the event were rendered by Srinath N, CEO of Tata Trusts, who observed that the significance of reports such as the India Justice Report is that "it brings out that while it is true there is a lot to improve in our system, it does show also that there are steady efforts, slow and scattered as they may be, at improving.".The report makes a point that justice is essential and that it must be made more real, he said, adding that accurate, regular, consistent, readable information is important in this endeavour. .The report would help people to periodically evaluate the justice system "that is after all for our use", he remarked. .Read the report:.Read highlights of the report: