Context: India Justice Report 2025 was released recently. It has revealed that with a national average occupancy rate of more than 131%, Indian jails face extreme overcrowding and are battling multiple health challenges.
Relevance of the Topic:Prelims: Key facts about India Justice Report 2025.
About India Justice Report (IJR) 2025
- Published by: Tata Trusts in collaboration with civil society organisations and data partners.
- Objective: Tracks State-wise performance across Police, Judiciary, Prisons, Legal Aid.
- Methodology: Based on official government data; uses indicators like:
- Budget allocation
- Human resource availability
- Infrastructure
- Workload
- Gender diversity
- Coverage: All 36 States and Union Territories.
I. Issues with Prison System in India
1. Severe Overcrowding
- The national average occupancy rate exceeds 131%.
- Projected inmate population by 2030: 6.8 lakh.
- Expected capacity by 2030: only 5.15 lakh.
- Between 2012 and 2022: Inmates increased from 3.8 lakh to 5.7 lakh while capacity rose from 3.4 lakh to 4.3 lakh — a 27% rise, which is not sufficient to match growth.
- Uttar Pradesh: Most overcrowded prisons in India.
- Delhi: 91% of prison inmates are undertrials.
2. Public Health Crisis
- Medical Officers: 43% vacancies.
- Doctor-to-Prisoner ratio: 1 : 775, far above the Model Prison Manual norm of 1 : 300.
- Disability data gap: No comprehensive health data on inmates entering with or acquiring disabilities in prisons.
3. Mental Health
- Only 25 psychologists/psychiatrists for 5.7 lakh prisoners — 1 per 22,929 inmates whereas the benchmark is 1 psychologist/psychiatrist per 500 inmates.
- 25 States/UTs have no provision for correctional mental health professionals.
4. Prison Expenditure:
- Average annual spend per prisoner (2022–23): ₹44,110 (up from ₹38,028 in 2021–22).
II. Issues with Policing in India
1. Low Representation of Women
- Fewer than 1000 women in senior police positions out of 20.3 lakh personnel.
- No State/UT has met its own reserved quotas for women in the police.
2. Infrastructure Gaps
- 17% of police stations lack CCTV surveillance.
- Nearly 30% of police stations do not have women help desks.
3. Resource Allocation
- Per capita police spending: ₹1,275, highest among the four pillars (Police, Judiciary, Prisons, Legal Aid).
- Civil police personnel availability: 1 per 831 people.
III. Judiciary
1. Vacancies and Pendency
- More than 50% of High Court judges are vacant/missing in Uttar Pradesh.
- Gujarat: Highest vacancies in High Court judges and staff.
- Bihar: 71% of trial and district court cases pending for over 3 years.
2. Judiciary Spending
- Per capita judiciary spending: ₹182.
- No State spends more than 1% of its total budget on the judiciary.
IV. Legal Aid
1. Budgetary Constraints: Per capita legal aid spending: Only ₹6 per annum.