Maja Daruwala

The writer is board member and senior advisor, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

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More From Maja Daruwala

New criminal codes, same old challenges of the justice systemSubscriber Only

September 20,2024 01:00:27 AM

The success of the new laws depends on more than addressing structural deficits. It requires comprehensive, across-the-board training to upgrade quality and knowledge and change mindsets

Fri, Sep 20, 2024

Litigants want a quick resolution to their issues, but with pendency being what it is they can’t hope to get it and overburdened judges can’t give it.

Blaming court vacation for pendency misses the real problemSubscriber Only

May 29,2024 18:29:27 PM

From unfilled vacancies to lack of infrastructure, there are deeper issues that ail India’s judiciary

Sun, Jun 02, 2024

A quick, back-of-the-envelope-estimation shows there are only about three lakh women in the justice delivery system. Quotas have helped them get in, but even when they are included, inevitably, women’s place remains restricted to the lower echelons: If thirty-five per cent of subordinate judges are women, the number comes down to 13 per cent in the high courts.

Can a justice system without women bring justice to women?Subscriber Only

March 08,2024 07:07:50 AM

Justice requires that it is not women who must twist and turn to be more like men to be able to ‘fit into’ institutions. Mono-cultural male dominant institutional sub-cultures must acknowledge that they will always be sub-par when they are gender imbalanced

Fri, Mar 08, 2024

Systemic neglect ensures that prisons act as warehouses for the marginalisedSubscriber Only

December 28,2020 03:27:26 AM

Prolongation of these so-called criminal cases is unconscionable, as is forcing vulnerable people into remaining in hotspots of increased infection and fatal risk.

Mon, Dec 28, 2020

Vikas Dubey killing: Judicial panel begins probe from Bikru

We need a root and branch repair of police, guardian agencies to keep them lawfulSubscriber Only

July 13,2020 04:07:44 AM

At 158, India’s police to population ratio (police staff per 1,00,000 citizens) is one of the worst in the world. It lags well behind its neighbours.

Mon, Jul 13, 2020

Spike in public trust offers room to reimagine people-police compactSubscriber Only

June 15,2020 01:27:44 AM

The police will need to strive to become a force of social cohesion benignly influencing politics, rather than politics influencing it in order to divide us and rule.

Mon, Jun 15, 2020

A specific anti-torture law needs to be detailed, comprehensive and conform to international standardsSubscriber Only

September 27,2019 01:00:50 AM

Torture is an endemic characteristic of Indian policing. A commitment to eradicating it requires the police force as a whole to have zero tolerance for the practice besides a specific anti-torture law.

Fri, Sep 27, 2019

Policeman, train thyselfSubscriber Only

December 20,2018 00:28:55 AM

Even without political support, there is much the police leadership can do to reform itself, and create a force suitable for a democracy. The failure of everyday performance and emergency response and the strictures and censure that follow should have compelled the leadership to take active steps yet much has been left unattended.

Thu, Dec 20, 2018