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The former Chief Justice of the High Courts of Karnataka and Kerala V.S. Malimath appealed for urgent reforms and review of the provisions in the archaic Criminal Justice System to instil confidence in the judiciary among the people and provide justice to the victims of the crime and increasing the conviction rates.
Mr. Malimath, who headed the Committee on Criminal Justice System and made series of recommendations on the need for reforming the system, said he had submitted his report back in 2003 to the Union government, headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and none of the recommendations have been implemented.
Mr. Malimath was delivering the keynote address after inaugurating the UGC-sponsored two-day national seminar on “Victim Justice—not only a legal problem but it is an extension of sociological and ethical implication” hosted by SSL Law College here on Friday.
“More than 80 per cent of reported crimes went unpunished due to several reasons and the loopholes in the present criminal justice system and there was urgent need to review the system and take corrective measures to improve the conviction rates,” he said.
He added that it was time to examine how far the State had discharged its duties of protecting the life and liberty of the common people. Mr. Malimath said in the present criminal justice system, victims of the crime have no place and their time only comes at the time of evidence.
“It is only the accused who gets all the attention and nobody bothers about the victims and their problems. Everything is accused-centric in the present system,” he said.
Mr. Malimath said that apart from agony of physical violation at the hands of the accused, victims of rape are made to undergo the ordeal of cross examination at the hands of the rapist inside the court.
However, the present criminal justice system does not allow the victim of rape to question the accused.
“This is the paradox of the situation,” Mr. Malimath said and added that courts do not pay adequate attention to the loss suffered by the victim.
Mr. Malimath said that there was also a need for the investigating agencies to equip themselves with the latest investigating tools to match the intelligence of the criminals and help the prosecution to get more number of convictions.
Long delays in conviction of watertight cases like the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi cases spoke volumes about the present criminal justice system and its drawbacks.
Vice-Chancellor of the National Law School of India University R. Venkat Rao spoke on the occasion and president of the HKE society Basavaraj Bhimalli presided over the function. Principal of the host college Lingaraj M. Konin welcomed.
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