A group of experts under the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday expressed “serious concerns over the slow pace of reforms in the criminal justice system to ensure speedy justice”, an NHRC statement said.
The NHRC core group on the criminal justice system held its first meeting on Wednesday where experts said the delay in disposal of cases was leading to human rights violations of the under-trials and convicts. NHRC member Justice (retired) M.M. Kumar, who chaired the meeting, said that despite the Supreme Court’s directions on police reforms, there had been hardly any changes on the ground. He said special laws and fast-track courts could replace certain offences under the Indian Penal Code in order to reduce the piling up of cases at every police station.
NHRC chairperson Justice (retd.) A.K. Mishra said that not only were trials getting delayed, but court orders convicting a person also took years to implement. He said digitisation of documents would help in speeding up investigations and trials.
According to estimates, there were about 4.4 crore pending cases in the Supreme Court, High Courts and district courts, NHRC Secretary General Bimbadhar Pradhan said.
Among the suggestions that came up during the meeting were increasing awareness of laws among police personnel, increasing the number of police personnel and stations in proportion to the number of complaints in an area, and including social workers and psychologists in the criminal justice system.