No conviction in a bulk of all hit-and-run cases, UP accounts for one-third

The conviction rate, or the share of completed court trials resulting in conviction, for hit-and-run cases was 47.9 per cent in 2022, official data shows.

The conviction rate has remained below 50 per cent in two out of the previous five years. The exceptions are 2020 and 2021, when it was 58.1 per cent and 51.9 per cent respectively, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Other serious crimes have a lower conviction rate. The conviction rate for murder in 2022 was 43.8 per cent, while it was 33.9 per cent for kidnapping and abduction.

Truck drivers across India went on strike on Monday against the new penal law, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Under the new law, punishment for hit-and-run cases will increase to 10 years from two years at present. Around 2,000 petrol pumps in western and north India faced fuel shortages due to the strike, according to media reports. The strike ended on Tuesday night after talks between a transport body and officials from the home ministry who gave assurances of consultations before implementing the law.

Hit-and-run cases are those in which drivers, who cause the accidents, flee from the spot and do not inform the police.

The number of cases with pending judgments in such cases has increased over the last five years. The pendency rate was 93 per cent in 2022 compared to 90.4 per cent in 2018 (chart 1).

On average, 131 hit-and-run cases were recorded daily in 2022. The total cases registered increased from 47,028 in 2018 to 47,806 in 2022. The number of victims was 50,815 in 2022. The numbers had gone down during the pandemic, but have since begun to rise again although they remain lower than the 2019 figure of 52,540 (chart 2).

One-third of these cases were reported in Uttar Pradesh (UP) in 2022. UP was followed by Madhya Pradesh with 8,477 cases, Maharashtra (3,480), Rajasthan (2,720) and Bihar (2,367).

The top five states account for around 66 per cent of the total cases (chart 3).

Across 19 metropolitan cities, Delhi reported the highest number of cases at 696, followed by Lucknow (355), Nagpur (294), Jaipur (293) and Bengaluru (222).