Conviction rates in NE States very low: Rajnath
Source: The Sangai Express / PTI
Imphal, May 16 2017:
Home Minister Rajnath
Singh today asked police
chiefs of the Northeastern
states to pay special attention
to the low conviction rates in
the region, saying if the trend
continues, peoples faith in
the criminal justice system
will erode.
Addressing a meeting of chief secretaries and DGPs
of the region, Singh said
poor investigation is the
main reason for high acquittal
rates in the Northeast.
"Unfortunately, in some
states of the Northeast, prosecution
in criminal cases
and conviction rate is very
poor.
In one state, the conviction
rate is just 5 per cent
against the all India rate of 86 per cent," he said.
The home minister said
in several states, kidnapping,
abduction and extortion
are rampant but in such
cases, prosecution and conviction
rate is less than 1 per
cent, "which is unacceptable".
Singh said if a criminal
gets acquitted even after
committing a crime, then the
faith of common people in
justice system gets eroded.
"If the acquittal ratio is
very high, then not only the
moral legitimacy of the state
gets undermined, but it
incentivise the crimes.
There is a need for special
attention by the police chief
in this area," he said.
Singh said the scientific
tools were not used adequately
for investigation in
the Northeast and the condition
of forensic science
laboratories were also not
satisfactory in several states.
The home minister said
the government has taken a
number of initiatives for
development of road, rail
and air ( connectivity, improving power and digital infrastructure to ensure
speedy development.
"Because of such initiatives, there are hopes that security
situation will be improved further.
With the launching of the
Act East Policy, the doors of the region will be opened for
the South East Asian markets," he said.
Singh said the Northeastern region is rich in natural and
human resources and for better use of these resources, there
is a need to ensure proper security and creation of peaceful
environment.
The home minister said the security eco-system
in the region has been vitiated due to the ongoing militancy.
He also said cyber crime is an emergency security threat
and incidents of cyber crime have been increasing globally.
"There have been attempts to create instability and unrest
in cyber space along with financial crimes.
We know how
some people tried to create instability by misusing cyber space
after the ethnic clashes in Assam in 2012," he said.