Low Rate of Convictions

Alow rate of convictions in respect of police cases has become a legitimate cause of concern for the Assam government. After all, if a large number of cases filed by the police fail to result in convictions, maintaining law and order would become impossible. There are just a few conclusions to be drawn as to why this is happening. The foremost of them would be that many of the cases filed were based on cooked up charges.  This reflects rather poorly on the State’s law-and-order mechanism and the very integrity of the Home department. Then there is the very common and valid charge of the prosecution being lax or incompetent. However, for all we know, the State government is merely reaping as it has sown. Quite a few years ago, the State government committed the cardil sin of making the recruitment of public prosecutors political appointments instead of conducting such recruitment through an approved selection process relying on merit and competition. This subversion of approved methods of recruitment has given rise to a sharp lowering of standards and nepotism. The expected outcome is all too evident also in delays and in a typical ibility even to cope with the very rudimentary nitty-gritty of public prosecution. The procrastition and delay that has bedevilled the system is sought to be remedied by patchwork remedies that seek to emulate what the Punjab Police is doing rather than getting back to an honest and approved selection procedure for the recruitment of public prosecutors. Our lawmakers should have realized that patchwork remedies cannot work in respect of such an important responsibility after they had wilfully subverted the system.