Mumbai: Only 15 personnel of Maharashtra police have been convicted over complaints received against them in the three years from 2012 to 2014. This figure looks paltry especially when compared to the 20,733 complaints received against them in these years, official records have revealed.
According to reports of the state crime bureau and the National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 11,076 of the number of cases filed in the three years were declared as false. Records show that only one in 1,382 policemen, against whom the complaints are received, reach the stage of conviction.
The number keeps dropping as it passes through the stages of inquiry, registration of criminal case, arrest and trial leading to conviction.
The situation is slightly better for the state’s capital Mumbai where the ratio of convictions against complaints stood at 1:580. In the three years from 2012 to 2014, Mumbai received 2,902 complaints against cops, of which 2,440 were declared false upon completion of departmental inquiries.
The sharp decline in the strength of cases against policemen, say legal experts and activists, can be attributed to the witnesses turning hostile and complainants backing out either on account of extraneous pressures or compromising with the delinquent officers.
This, despite departmental inquiries being initiated against the policemen immediately after they are found floundering or committing a crime. Suspensions, though temporary, are also quick to come. However, as cases fall apart and cops cleared during trial due to the reasons cited above, he or she gets reposted into the force immediately after acquittal in trial.
Another reason behind the low conviction rate could be due to senior officials being hand-in-glove, leading to cases deliberately being made weak. Fear of a case falling apart and the official being reinstated also instills an element of fear among the complainants and deters them from speaking out, said experts.
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