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Explained: How the Union Budget funds India's justice system

Over half of the union budget for the Ministry of Law and Justice is for election-related expenditure.

A view of Supreme Court of India building in New Delhi. Photo: PTI
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A view of Supreme Court of India building in New Delhi. Photo: PTI

Nileena Suresh | IndiaSpend Mumbai
The Ministry of Law and Justice is allocated only 0.1% of the union budget, our analysis of budget documents shows, and over half of this amount is spent on election-related expenditure.

While other ministries like the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Women and Child Development (ministry of WCD) also fund schemes that support law enforcement agencies in the states, a number of these schemes have remained underutilised over the years.

A common issue across states is that the budget is inadequate, and that is juxtaposed with the underutilisation of the funds that are available, said Valay