Delhi Police asks Centre for more Investigating Officers, legal advisers to deal with rise in cases

Grappling with an abysmally low conviction rate, the Delhi Police is mulling over measures to ensure the guilty don’t go unpunished on account of shoddy investigation or a ‘weak’ case by the prosecution. For this, it is planning to create more than 200 posts of legal advisers, as well as bring on board more investigating officers for a more thorough and professional probe in criminal cases.

Sources told DNA that the police have sent a proposal to the Ministry of Home Affairs to get the nod for 56 deputy legal advisers and 181 assistant legal advisers.

The Delhi Police registered a steep fall in its conviction rate which was recorded at mere 4.9 per cent in 2016, a massive fall from the 31.2 per cent in 2005. With these figures, the city, which a decade ago, had the best conviction rate, finds itself among states like Bihar, Assam and West Bengal, notorious for having some of the worst conviction rates in the country.

The force is also suffering from the fact that there is a lack of investigating officers, despite the fact that the number of cases have risen sharply. Currently, the 76,000-strong police force have only 6,500 IOs to probe more than …read more