Conviction rate in criminal cases in the State is considerably poorer than the national average, said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Replying to a question of Dilip Ray in the State legislative Assembly, on March 21, Patnaik said while the conviction rate was 45.1 per cent in the country in 2014, the State registered only 16.4 per cent conviction in criminal cases during the year.
In 2013, while the conviction rate across the nation was 40.2 per cent, it was 10.3 per cent in Odisha. In 2012, the national average was 38.5 per cent, while it was only 11 per cent in Odisha during the same year. In 2011, it was 10.3 per cent in State against national average of 41.1 per cent.
The conviction rate in 2010 was 40.7 per cent across the country while it was 9.9 per cent in Odisha, the Chief Minister, who also heads the Home portfolio, said.
As per data provided by Patnaik, while 74,569 cases were registered under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the year 2014 in the State, only 41,992 cases were disposed of.
Of the disposed-of cases, the accused were acquitted in 35,118 cases and were convicted in only 6,874 cases. Similarly, while total 71,718 cases were registered in the year 2013 in the State, the number of disposed-of cases was 28,913, of which the accused were acquitted in 25,930 cases and convicted in 2,983 cases.
In 2012, a total of 67,957 cases were registered, while the number of cases that were disposed of was 35,744. In only 3,922 cases, the accused were convicted in the State.
In 2011, 61,277 cases were registered in the State, while 34,320 cases were disposed of. The accused were acquitted in 30,776 cases, while in only 3,544 cases, the accused were convicted.
As per the data, a total of 28, 51,563 cases were registered in 2014, while the number of disposed-of cases was 13,41,386. There was acquittal in 7,36,242 cases while in 6,05,144 cases, the accused were convicted.