In Maharashtra, rules existed for the scrutiny of acquittal judgements and taking necessary corrective measures where needed.
One of the reasons for acquittals is the abnormal delay in the trial process, especially in the lower courts. In the intervening period the investigating officers get transferred or retire and the witnesses disappear or get won over by the accused. This results in a sharp decline in the conviction rate. It may not be out of place to point out here that the quality of our prosecutors leaves much to be desired.
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In Maharashtra, rules existed for the scrutiny of acquittal judgements and taking necessary corrective measures where needed. There are specific rules to this effect in the Police Manual and the 'standing orders file' of the DGP and the Mumbai CP. This is one of the important duties of the District Superintendents and CPs and they have been doing it routinely. But over the years, this important work seems to have suffered from neglect for reasons like a rise in crime and multifarious police duties. Another important reason for this neglect was taking control of the prosecution wing away from the police. As we now know, there is a separate Directorate of Prosecution under the law and judiciary department.
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As far as the GR is concerned, it is an outcome of the SC judgement in a Gujarat case in which the court had asked all state governments to formulate a procedure for taking action against officers responsible for the failure of prosecution. After the October 2015 GR mandating setting up of committees to take up the scrutiny work came the February 2019 GR, which is an improvement as it lays down a time frame for taking up this exercise. It says the scrutiny committees must meet at least once in three months and submit their reports to police chiefs and to the Director of Prosecution in case the officers default. They, in turn, will report to the government once every year about the action taken against erring officials.
MN Singh, former Mumbai top cop
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