The India Justice Report 2025 released by Tata Trust,  underscores persistent gaps and emerging progress in India’s justice delivery system.

About the India Justice Report (IJR)

• The IJR is India’s only national ranking of states and UTs based on their capacity to deliver justice effectively and equitably.
• Compiled and Released By: Initiated by Tata Trusts and supported by civil society organisations such as CHRI, DAKSH, Vidhi Centre, and TISS-Prayas.
• Components
  • The report assesses states across four pillars: Police, Judiciary, Prisons, and Legal Aid, with Human Rights Commissions added as a supplementary area.
  • Performance is measured across five indicators: Human Resources, Budgets, Infrastructure, Workload, and Diversity.
• Significance: The IJR promotes data-driven justice reforms using official government data, helping states benchmark performance and identify key areas for policy intervention.

Key Highlights of the 2025 Report

• Top Performers: Karnataka securing the 1st rank overall with a score of 6.78/10.
  • Tamil Nadu maintained its top rank in prison management due to 100% budget utilization and ideal staff-inmate ratio.
• Rising Gender Representation: The female share in police and judiciary has risen across many states.
  • Bihar recorded the highest proportion of women in state police.
• Judicial Efficiency: High Courts maintained a disposal rate above 100%, with subordinate courts showing marked improvements.
  • Use of video conferencing and digital services in courts has grown significantly.
• Technology Integration: Expansions in live-streaming, e-Sewa Kendras, and digital legal aid tracking have enhanced access to justice.

Best Performers in Policing & Justice Delivery

Worst Performers in Policing & Justice Delivery

Gaps Highlighted by IJR 2025

• Gender Quota Failures: Not a single State or UT fulfilled the self reserved quotas for women in the police force, with fewer than 1,000 women in senior positions nationwide.
• Infrastructure Deficiencies:
  • 17% of police stations lack CCTVs, violating SC mandates.
  • 30% of stations do not have women help desks, hampering victim support.
• Judicial and Police expenditure: The national per capita expenditure on the judiciary stands at ₹182.
  • No State in India spent more than 1% of its total annual expenditure on the Judiciary
  • The national per capita spend on police is at ₹1,275 which is the highest among the four pillars.
• Legal Aid Underspending: The national per capita spend on legal aid remains just ₹6 annually, the lowest among justice sectors.
  • 19 states reported a decline in legal aid budgets.
• Judicial Backlog: Over 5 crore cases are pending; in Bihar, 71% of trial court cases are over 3 years old.
  • High Court vacancies exceed 30% in some states like Gujarat.
• Prison Overcrowding: 76% of inmates are undertrials, up from 66% a decade ago.
  • Uttar Pradesh has the most overcrowded prisons; Delhi’s undertrial rate is 91%.
• Lack of adequate Civil Personnel: In India, one civil police personnel is available for 831 people.

Suggestions

• Gender-Inclusive Reforms: Enforce mandatory recruitment and lateral entry of women in senior justice roles with regular audits.
• Improve Police Infrastructure: Ensure universal CCTV coverage, functional women help desks, and digitized FIR systems in all stations.
• Strengthen Judicial Cadre: Introduce All India Judicial Services (AIJS) and a standardized recruitment calendar to fill vacancies and reduce pendency.
• Revamp Legal Aid System: Scale up community-based legal aid, revise budgets, and expand paralegal volunteer networks.
• Prison Reforms: Accelerate adoption of the Model Prison & Correctional Services Act 2023, with focus on parole, medical staffing, and open prisons.
• Performance-Linked Funding: Allocate higher funds to states showing improvement in vacancy reduction, training, and technology adoption.

The India Justice Report 2025 is a call for accountable, inclusive, and systemic reforms. Despite positive shifts in tech adoption and disposal rates, significant structural deficits demand urgent attention for equitable justice delivery in India.

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