One agrees with the Law and Judiciary Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil that ideally the conviction rate in criminal cases fought by the state should be hundred percent. The present conviction rate only shows enormous waste of public money and valuable working hours of the courts. But why does he want to discipline only the pleaders by imposing fifty per cent conviction rate? The problem does not lie with the public prosecutors as much as the Minister wants us to believe. It should be remembered that a state is expected not to take a citizen to court unless it is reasonably sure of his conviction. It is not only a great waste of state resources and time but is also a gross violation of human rights.
The remedy for the poor rate of conviction is thorough investigation directed towards solving the case. A pleader’s weapon is evidence. The effectiveness of that weapon must be ascertained by a panel of lawyers before the case goes to court. Only then the government is justified in expecting hundred per cent conviction, not fifty.
Dr Mookhi Amir Ali
Mumbai, Maharashtra