Karnataka tops India Justice Report 2025, but struggles with prisons, legal aid, gender equality
Bengaluru: Karnataka has emerged as the top performer among 18 large and mid-sized states (with a population of over one crore each) in India, according to the India Justice Report 2025 (IJR), a key national ranking assessing the delivery of justice across the country.
The report, cited on Wednesday by The New Indian Express, revealed that Karnataka continues to maintain its strong position from the previous edition of the report, securing the top spot in the overall ranking for justice delivery.
The IJR evaluates states based on their performance in four key areas: police, judiciary, prisons, and legal aid. Karnataka stands out for its effective implementation of reservation quotas for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in both the police and judiciary sectors. The state has also set a benchmark with a mere 1.2 percent vacancy rate at the officer level within the police force, the lowest among all large states. Additionally, Karnataka boasts the highest number of paralegal volunteers in the country.
Karnataka is followed by Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. But, despite being a top ranking state, the report highlighted significant areas of concern, particularly in prisons, legal aid, and women’s representation within the police force.
The IJR 2025 raised alarm over the state’s prison system, particularly the high number of undertrial prisoners (UTPs). According to the report, 80 percent of inmates in Karnataka’s prisons are under trial, the highest figure recorded since 2015. This increase in UTPs reflects broader systemic issues, including limited access to legal aid at the grassroots level, especially in villages.
Furthermore, Karnataka’s progress in integrating women into the police force remains far from ideal. The state has set an ambitious target to raise the percentage of women in police roles to 25 percent, but the reality falls short. According to the IJR 2025, women constitute only 9 percent of the total police force, with a mere 6 percent representation at the officer level.
Commenting on the findings, Justice Madan B. Lokur (Retd.), former judge of the Supreme Court, emphasised that the barriers to accessing justice begin at the very first point of contact with the system. “With our failure to properly equip and train frontline justice providers — police stations, legal aid actors including paralegal volunteers and district courts — we fracture public trust,” TNIE report quoted him as saying.
“The strength of our entire justice framework rests on these critical first points of contact. The burden continues to remain on the individual seeking justice, and not the state to provide it,” he added.
Maja Daruwala, Chief Editor of the India Justice Report, called for urgent reforms to ensure that justice is not just a constitutional ideal but an everyday reality for all citizens. “As India moves forward into a hundred years of being a democratic, rule-of-law nation, the promise of rule of law and equal rights will remain hollow unless underwritten by a reformed justice system,” Daruwala said, noting that reform is not optional but urgent.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
BEST bus catches fire on Mumbai's Western Express Highway, all passengers safe
Mumbai (PTI): A bus operated by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) caught fire on the Western Express Highway in Mumbai's Kandivali area on Tuesday night, officials said.
Nobody was injured in the incident and all passengers were rescued safely, an official said.
"The blaze erupted in the CNG-run bus of the BEST near Sai Dham temple in Kandivali east. All passengers were safely evacuated and nobody was injured," he said.
Personnel of the police department and fire brigade were alerted, following which they rushed to the spot and launched a firefighting operation, he said.
As per the preliminary information, the fire started in the engine section of the vehicle.
Due to the incident, traffic on the Western Express Highway was disrupted for some time and vehicles were asked to use an alternative route, the official said.
