‘Overall conviction rate in 2014 at record 49%’

Praja had said in its report on Tuesday that 92 per cent of those chargesheeted for crimes like murder, rape, assault, kidnapping and other cases where bodily harm is inflicted, had gone scot-free in 2013, and that the overall conviction rate of the Mumbai Police remains at 22 per cent.

Police officers attribute the rise in the conviction rate largely to the appointment of ‘pairavi officers’ in each police station. Pairavi officers are entrusted with duties like attending court hearings once a case reaches the trial stage, helping the prosecutors wherever required, checking whether upcoming witnesses have been intimated and generally keeping track of the case.

“One Assistant Police Inspector in every police station has been designated as the pairavi officer. It is his job to make sure that the investigating officer (IO) of the concerned case goes to court, and that there is proper coordination between the IO and the public prosecutor of the case. The pairavi officers have played a major role in boosting the conviction rate,” said Maria.

Officers said that the absence of witnesses or improper depositions by them had also been affecting the conviction rate in the past.

“Cases drag on in court for years and witnesses tend to forget or get confused about the details of their testimony as time passes. Defence lawyers tend to capitalise on this and this ends up affecting the conviction rate. The pairavi officer is tasked with keeping a track of witnesses, ensuring that they turn up in court, tracking them down in case they have changed addresses and forgotten to inform the police and make sure that they will be able to depose on the given date,” said an officer.

The concept of pairavi officers was first introduced by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) around five years ago, and has since then been adopted by several agencies. For a long time, the staff crunch faced by the Mumbai Police made it difficult to appoint enough pairavi officers. With the induction of 750 new recruits in September last year, however, the Mumbai Police were able to appoint pairavi officers in each police station.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com