Our Criminal Justice System Starts With Arrest & Ends With Bail; There's No Conviction Mostly : Justice Joymalya Bagchi

Supreme Court judge Justice Joymalya Bagchi yesterday questioned the Delhi government yesterday over a dearth of public prosecutors in the national capital and the delay occasioned in trials due to the overwhelming burden on available prosecutors.

"In my experience, one prosecutor handles 50 prosecutions. If it humanly possible for that prosecutor to have a day-to-day trial? That is the unfortunate [thing] about our criminal justice system. It starts with the arrest and ends with the bail. There is no conviction, there is no trial", remarked the judge.

Justice Bagchi also underlined the importance of witness-protection in gangster-related cases.

"You keep the undertrial in jail, but you can't keep the witness in jail. He is in society. And what is the protective cover you are giving them? Because they are your eyes and ears. If your eyes and ears don't function, ultimately we find that confidence of people in the justice delivery system, in the criminal justice system, is affected. There's a daylight murder on the streets of Delhi and finally because lack of evidence, man is going scot-free. See the rule of law is absolutely impaired in the eyes of the common man", conveyed the judge to Additional Solicitor General SD Sanjay.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Bagchi was dealing with the case of a person accused of offenses under Sections 307/386 of IPC and Sections 25/27 of the Arms Act. A "hardened criminal" with 55 antecedents (including 2 convictions), the petitioner-accused had approached the Supreme Court seeking bail.

While he was denied the relief in February, the top Court listed the matter from time to time calling on a proposal from the Delhi government for timely disposal of trials pending in gangster-related cases.

Yesterday, the bench called on the Union of India and Delhi government to consider establishment of fast-track courts which can deal with such cases on a day-to-day basis. It reflected that if the proposed decision is taken by the governments, all pending trials (stated to be 288) can be brought to an end.

Case Title: MAHESH KHATRI @ BHOLI Versus STATE NCT OF DELHI, SLP(Crl) No. 1422/2025