Cyber crimes have cost India a whopping about Rs 24,630 crore ($4 billion) in 2013 alone as criminals used sophisticated means, says a Delhi High Court-commissioned report.
“Internet frauds alone have cost India a whopping $4 billion (about Rs 24,630 crore) in 2013 as cyber criminals are using more sophisticated means like ransomware and spear-phishing,” the report said.
The facts figure in a report submitted by Surinder S Rathi, additional district judge and OSD to Delhi Legal Service Authority (DLSA), before the court in pursuance of a direction that a comprehensive study be conducted on various issues including the cost incurred in running the criminal justice system.
The bench of justices Gita Mittal and J R Midha, which is yet to pronounce the quantum of sentence to three convicts including Vikas Yadav in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case, had also asked DLSA to compute the cost incurred in the trial of this case, besides determining the compensation paying capacity of the convicts.
However, the reports gives no further details of cybercrime stalking the country.
Dealing with other crimes in the chapter, of ‘Cost of Criminal Justice System’, the report, quoting from the National Crime Records Bureau data, said that in 2013, as many as 66.40 lakh criminal complaints were received by the police stations across the nation.
It said that in Delhi alone, a total of 86,800 criminal complaints were received at its 175 odd police stations apart from around 89 lakh distress calls received by it last year.
“Although better part of the world has awaken to the exorbitant financial cost of running the criminal justice system, but our country is yet to take its first step in the right direction. Owing to mindless and unscientific planning all the wings of criminal justice system are highly chaotic in their functioning and are immensely overburdened,” it said.
The report said that despite India having 12,700 odd police stations and 15.70 lakh policemen manning them, incidents of crime are spiralling uncontrollably.
“A lot is being done in this regard by all the stakeholders but unfortunately owing to lack of scientific methodology and concerted efforts of all concern not much headway could be achieved,” the report said.
The report also said police, the first ring of criminal
The report also said police, the first ring of criminal justice system, is in an almost pitiable state nationwide.
“Neither it (police) has the requisite manpower to deliver nor the technical expertise nor the infrastructure to contain crimes. To make things worse malice of corruption is eating into its vitals,” the report said.
It said the judiciary, the second ring of criminal justice system, is also not “far behind in fulfilling its constitutional obligations and meeting the expectations of its citizen of delivery of timely justice”.
“Courts are inundated with lakhs of case pending trial. Such is the snail pace of trials that influx of cases at any point of time is out doing the disposal. All this is resulting in piling up of cases in courts,” the report said.
The report also added that the ancillary support system like jails, juvenile, justice boards, child welfare committees and forensic labs all need to be brought out of slumber and urgently to save this system from crumbling.
On the cost of criminal justice system, the report said that measuring the cost of criminal justice is not easy yet it is essential to the proper appraisal of any criminal justice system policy.
“There is an urgent need to develop a comprehensive methodology for calculating the cost incurred by society on account of various criminal offences,” it said.
The report added that as on today, in India no empirical study has been conducted as to how much does a criminal case cost to the exchequer at the tax payers right from registration of the FIR to its logical conclusion post the trial in sentencing.
