India Justice Report ’25

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 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