PANAJI
The conviction rate in the trial courts has raised concerns, with less than 10 per cent of cases resulting in success.
A RTI reply, in possession of The Goan, reveals that over the past two decades, convictions remained low due to various factors -- insufficient evidence, stock witnesses, etc.
According to the Public Information Officer of the District & Sessions Court, Margao, the total conviction rate stands at 12.49 per cent. A total of 2882 out of 23071 disposed criminal cases resulted in conviction whereas 3485 cases were acquittals. The Court recorded 39629 cases filed, with 23678 being criminal cases.
Although North Goa boasts a slightly higher conviction rate of 14 percent, concerns persist.
The Office of the Principal District & Sessions Judge reveals that accused in 7714 (14 per cent) cases were convicted while 4356 ended in acquittal. The Court recorded a total of 79872 cases filed -- 59988 criminal and 19884 civil cases. Among the disposed 74255 cases, 56601 are criminal and 17654 are civil.
A senior government official cited poor investigation as one of the main reasons, stating, "the investigation officers are usually busy with law and order duty. He/she just files the chargesheet within 90 days of the FIR and sends it to the Prosecution Department for approval, who at times, don't get enough time to point out lacunas in the investigation".
RTI replies of both courts reveal that judicial officers receive points based on convictions or acquittals.
Another particular concern is the conviction at Children’s Court as only six convictions compared to 170 acquittals are registered. A total of 216 out of a total of 395 filed cases have been disposed of. The average total convictions come to less than 10 per cent.
Reacting to low conviction in children's court, a senior police officer said that most rape cases are consensual, hence the victims don't cooperate with the trial.
"Not all, but majority cases are consensual. The victim either turns hostile during the trial or refuses to attend the hearings," the office said wishing anonymity.
