Performance of anti-corruption departments, courts receive cursory attention

By Venkatesh Nayak*
9th December has been designated by the United Nations as International Anti-Corruption Day. Even though India ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2011, this year, International Anti-Corruption Day went by uncelebrated and in fact almost unnoticed. According to a UN estimate, every year, US$ 1 trillion is paid in bribes and US$ 2.6 trillion are stolen through corruption – a sum equivalent to more than 5% of the global GDP.
In 2015, Transparency International (TI) rated India 76thamong 168 countries surveyed for people’s perceptions about how corrupt they perceived their governments to be. Countries like Bhutan (27), Chile (23), Ghana (56), Jordan (45), Namibia (45), Panama (72), Rwanda (44), Saudi Arabia (48), Senegal (61), Seychelles (40), South Africa (61) and Uruguay (21) scored better than India on TI’s corruption perceptions index (CPI). In the BRICS grouping, India keeps company with Brazil at 76th place while China is at 83 and Russia far below at 119.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) publishes a wealth of statistics in its annual Crime in India Report (Chapter 9) about the action taken by the government in the States and the Union Territories (UTs) on complaints of corruption. Yet, these statistics dealing with the performance of the anti-corruption departments and courts in tackling corruption have received cursory attention in the media. These statistics are also published in the form of datasets on the Open Data Portal.
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has analysed statistics relating to corruption cases reported from the stage of registration to the stage of conviction, as reported by the NCRB, since the beginning of the 21st century. Some preliminary findings are:

As per NCRB data, between 2001-2015 a total of 54,139cases were registered across the 29 States and seven Union Territories (UTs). During this period, people filed more than double that number (1,16,010) of reports about being required to pay bribes, on the popular website – I Paid a Bribe;
Between 2001-2015, the NCRB reported the registration of a little more than 5 lakh cases of murder(5,01,852 cases) across the 29 States and seven UTs. In comparison, only 54,139 cases of corruption were registered during the same period. In other words, for ten murders registered, only one case of corruption was registered across the country;
During this 15-year period, the NCRB reported the registration of 87 lakh cases (5,87,347 cases) of kidnapping or abduction across the country. In other words, for 11 kidnappings or abductions registered across the country, only one case of corruption was registered by the law enforcement authorities;
Between 2001-2015, the NCRB reported the registration of 3.54 lakh cases of robbery across the country (3,54,453 cases). In other words, for a little more than 6 robberies registered, only one case of corruption was registered by the law enforcement agencies;
While 54,139 cases registered across the 29 States and seven UTs (irrespective of the outcome) trial was completed in 26% (29,920 cases). In other cases the accused were discharged or the FIR was quashed or the case was simply not put up for trial or the trial was still going on;
Kerala clocked the highest conviction rate among States that registered a large number of cases as a proportion of cases sent up for trial at 95%;
Despite several cases going up for trial no convictions have been reported from States such as West Bengal, Goa, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripuraand Meghalaya by the NCRB. In Manipur only one case is said to have reached conviction during this 15-year period;
Between 2001 and 2015, trials involving 43,394 individuals were completed across the 28 States (excluding Himachal Pradesh and seven UTs. 68.19% (29,591) of the accused were acquitted by courts during this 15-year period (excluding Himachal Pradesh). In other words, only 31.81% (13,803) of the accused were found guilty by courts;
In States like Goa, Manipur and Tripura the acquittals were 100%. All 30 accused were acquitted by courts in these States. In Andaman and Nicobar Islands the trial was completed in relation to one accused during this 15-year period resulting in acquittal;
Nagaland is the only State that bucked this trend with convictions of more than 90% of the accused. In all, 438 accused were convicted. Of these, 404 were convicted in 2014. In Assam also, convictions were much high (70%), despite fewer cases going up to and completing trial;
Almost 90%of the accused were acquitted in Jammu and Kashmir.

—
*Programme Coordinator, Access to Information Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative,New Delhi

Comments

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan* A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .

Beyond sattvik: Purity, caste and the politics of the Indian kitchen

By Rajiv Shah A few week ago, I was forwarded an article that appeared in the British weekly The Economist . Titled “Caste and cuisine: From honeycomb curry to blood fry: India’s ‘untouchable’ cooking”, it took me back to what I had blogged about what was called a “ sattvik food festival”, an annual event organised by former Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad professor Anil Gupta.

Search This Blog