In Judiciary, no state met all three quotas for SC, ST, OBC: India Justice Report

New Delhi [India], April 4 (ANI): None of the states have been able to meet all three quotas for SC, ST and OBC positions in Judiciary at the subordinate/district court level, the 2022 India Justice Report (IJR) informed on Tuesday.

The report further added that only 13 per cent of subordinate court judges are women.

The IJR report mentioned that Karnataka remains the only state to consistently meet its quota for SC, ST and OBC positions, both among police officers and the constabulary.

However, it pointed out that in the Judiciary, at the Subordinate/District Court level, no state met all three quotas.

“Only Gujarat and Chhattisgarh met their respective SC quotas. Arunachal Pradesh, Telangana, and Uttarakhand met their respective ST quotas. Kerala, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana met OBC quotas,” the report said.

The India Justice Report (IJR), claimed to be India’s only ranking of states on delivery of Justice in the country, was initiated by Tata Trusts in 2019, and this is its third edition. Its partners include the Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, DAKSH, TISS-Prayas, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and How India Lives, IJR’s data partner.

The report also said that the share of women across the justice system in Police, Prisons, Judiciary and Legal aid is 1 out of 10 is a woman.

“While the overall share of women in the Police force is about 11.75 per cent, in the officer ranks it is still lower at 8 per cent. Only 13 per cent of High Court judges and 35 per cent of Subordinate Court judges are women. Among Prison staff, they are 13%. A majority of states have increased the share of women panel lawyers. Nationally, the share has increased from 18 to 25 per cent,” the report said.

Pointing to infrastructure, the report stated, “About 25% — one in four — police stations do not have a single CCTV. Nearly three in 10 police stations do not have women help desks.”

“About 30 per cent (391 prisons) record occupancy rates of above 150 per cent, and 54 per cent (709 prisons) run above 100 per cent capacity. Under-trials: With the exception of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tripura, and Madhya Pradesh, the undertrial population of all states and Union Territories exceeds 60 per cent,” the IJR report added.

Talking about the budget allocated to the judiciary and legal aid, the report said that the national per capita spend on judiciary stands at Rs. 146 and no state spends more than one per cent of its total annual expenditure on the Judiciary.

“The national per capita spend on legal aid, including the expenditure of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and the state/UT governments themselves, is a meagre Rs 4.57 per annum. Excluding NALSA, this figure drops to Rs 3.8, if only NALSA’s budget (2021-22) is considered the per capita spend is Rs 1.06 only,” the IJR report further said.