Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: Though the conviction rate in Assam has been on the rise in the past four years, it still lags far behind the national average. At present, it is around 23 percent, compared to 57 percent for the national average.
The conviction rate in Assam was 6.1 percent in January 2021 and 22.95 percent in January 2024. The conviction rate depends largely on the quality of the police investigations, especially in criminal cases. For various reasons, the investigation of cases in Assam has been poor, leading to a poor conviction rate of 6.1 percent until January 2021.
Commenting on the increase in the conviction rate in the state from 6 percent to 23 percent now, Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "It's a paradigm shift in safety statistics. Case pending, crime rate, caseload, conviction rate, charge sheet filing, etc., in every parameter, the Assam Police has improved its performance."
A criminal lawyer said, "The fate of criminal cases depends upon the quality of investigations. Investigation of cases becomes defective because of some factors like ignorance of the relevant law relating to investigations, the lack of proper training of the investigation officers, non-availability of scientific and technical assistance to the investigation, the workload on investigation officers, the transfer of investigation officers during investigations, delayed reaching of police to the scene of crimes, etc."
According to sources, the police
had to close the investigation of many cases due to the lack of evidence. "The ultimate sufferers of weak or defective investigations are not only the victims of the offences or their dependents, but society as a whole. So, investigation officers must file reports with the court upon the conclusion of the investigation. The report must include all relevant material evidence," a source said.
According to sources, the state government has prioritized case investigation in the past three years, leading to the steep fall of the average caseload of investigation officers to six from 52 in the past. This abrupt fall in caseload allows the officers to focus more on all aspects of cases. Technical support for investigations, apart from tips from legal experts, has also made investigations almost flawless, leading to a surge in the conviction rate.
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