India Justice Report ’25

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  • Report Release: The India Justice Report (IJR) 2025 is released, assessing states’ justice delivery capacity and performance.

  • Overall Rankings: Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana top the large/mid-sized states; Sikkim leads among small states. Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha show the most improvement.

  • Women in Police: Women

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    hold only 8% of officer posts and under 1,000 senior IPS roles; 90% are in constabulary. 78% of police stations have Women Help Desks. No state/UT meets reserved quotas for women in police. Bihar has the highest share of women in state police.

  • Judicial Gaps: Approximately 21,000 judges (15 per million vs. recommended 50). High Court vacancies at 33%, district courts at 21%. Gujarat has highest vacancies in High Court Judges and staff.

  • Legal Aid Spending: Meagre Rs 6 per capita spent on legal aid annually.

  • Judiciary Spending: Overall judiciary spending is Rs 182 per person yearly; no state allocates over 1% of its budget.

  • Paralegal Volunteers (PLVs): PLV numbers dropped 38% over 5 years, with only 3 per lakh population.

  • Police Force: Faces manpower gaps (28% officer shortfall), low presence (120 per lakh vs. global norm 222), one cop for every 831 people. Per capita spending is highest among justice pillars (Rs 1,275).

  • Prison Overcrowding: Prisons are 131% over capacity, with staff shortages (officers 28%, correctional 44%, medical 43%). Doctor-inmate ratio is 1:775. Under-trials are 76% of prisoners. UP has the most overcrowded prisons and more than half of High Court Judges missing. 91% of Delhi’s prison population consisted of under-trials.

  • Prisoner Rehabilitation: Only 6% of inmates receive education, 2% vocational training (2022).

  • Tamil Nadu: Tops in prison management but rank in policing fell from 3 to 13 and continues to fare poorly in legal aid.

  • CCTV and Women Help Desks: About 17% of police stations in the country do not have a single CCTV. Nearly three in 10 police stations do not have women help desks.

  • Annual Spend on a Prisoner: Andhra Pradesh records the highest annual spend on a prisoner at ₹2,67,673.

  • Civil police personnel availability: One civil police personnel is available for 831 people.