SOTN: What India thinks of police and courts

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The State of the Nation Study (SONS), January 2009 conducted by CSDS in collaboration with CNN-IBN checked the popular perception about police and judiciary in India and questions connected with it from a cross section of people.

Themes covered:

The survey covered the following things on Police and Judiciary:

Accessibility and Interaction of people

Experience and Satisfaction of people with service delivery

Expectations of the people

Key Questions:

The key questions that was addressed during the survey was:

What is the proportion of people who interacted with police and for what purpose?

What is the profile of people who interacted with the police and how was their experience in terms of satisfaction levels?

What are the reasons why people do not approach the police and what are the alternative solution providers?

What are the expectations of people from police - would they interact with the police and would recommend their relatives/friends to contact the police if required?

Majority of Indians did not require court’s help during last 5 years.
Who
Did not require court intervention	82
Required court intervention & went to court	14
Required court intervention but did not go to court	4
Note: All figures in per cent.

Most people go to courts for civil cases
Who went to court
For Civil case	42
As Witness in case	16
For Routine verification	15
Only Accompanied relative/friend	14
For Criminal case	13
Note: Response of those who required court’s help. All figures in per cent

Profile of those who approached the court.
Those who	Poor	Rich	Dalit	Upper Caste
Approached court for Civil Case	38	35	36	42
Approached court for criminal cases	15	12	13	14
Note: Response of those who required court’s help. All figures in per cent

Who felt satisfied with their experience with court
Who felt satisfied with their experience with court in	Satisfied (All)	Dalits	Upper caste	Poor	Rich
Civil Case	68	65	72	68	66
Criminal case	58	56	56	58	65
Routine verification	55	56	61	70	61
Note: Response of those who went to court. All figures in per cent

Main reasons for not approaching the courts.
Reasons…
Problem resolved by community	22
Court process lengthy	19
Court process expensive	16
Note: Response of those who did not go to court. All figures in per cent.

Would you suggest your relative to go to court?
	All	Among those who went to Court
Yes, certainly	35	44
Only if there is no other option	32	32
No	13	14
Not sure	20	10
Note: All figures in per cent.

Majority of Indians did not contact the police during last 5 years
Those who
Did not required police help	80
Needed police help & contacted police	17
Needed police help but did not contact the police	3
Note: Response of those who contacted police. All figures in per cent

Why people approach police?
People approached police …
As Victim	27
Accompanied relative/friend	24
For paper work	23
As Witness	13
As Accused	7
As Informant	6
Note: Response of those who contacted police. All figures in per cent

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Profile of those who interacted with police
	Dalits	Upper caste	Poor	Rich
Interacted with police as victim	22	22	22	24
Interacted with police as accused	8	5	9	5
Interacted with police for paper work	15	25	20	24
Note: Response of those who contacted the police. All figures in per cent

Who felt satisfied with their experience with Police
Who felt satisfied with their experience with Police as	Satisfied (All)	Dalits	Upper caste	Poor	Rich
Victim	49	48	45	45	46
Accused	46	64	56	23	50
Paper work	68	78	63	63	77
Note: Response of those who contacted the police. All figures in per cent

Reason for not contacting Police
Those who said…
Problem resolved by community	22
Police complicates the matter	19
Police is unfair	17
Note: Response of those who did not interact with police. All figures in per cent

Would you advise your relatives to approach police?
	All	Among those who had contacted the Police
Yes	56	65
No	23	22
Not sure	21	13
Note: All figures in per cent

How people expect police to treat others
	Yes (All)	Opinion of Women
Police would treat men and women equally	36	34
	Yes (All)	Opinion of Dalits
Police would treat dalits and Upper caste equally	33	32
	Yes (All)	Opinion of Muslims
Police would treat person from majority and minority community equally	30	31
	Yes (All)	Opinion of Poor
Police would treat rich and poor equally	32	29
Note: Rest Can’t Say/Don’t Know. All figures in per cent.

Themes covered:

The survey covered the following things on Police and Judiciary:

Accessibility and Interaction of people

Experience and Satisfaction of people with service delivery

Expectations of the people

Key Questions:

The key questions that was addressed during the survey was:

What is the proportion of people who interacted with police and for what purpose?

What is the profile of people who interacted with the police and how was their experience in terms of satisfaction levels?

What are the reasons why people do not approach the police and what are the alternative solution providers?

What are the expectations of people from police - would they interact with the police and would recommend their relatives/friends to contact the police if required?

Majority of Indians did not require court’s help during last 5 years.
Who
Did not require court intervention	82
Required court intervention & went to court	14
Required court intervention but did not go to court	4
Note: All figures in per cent.

Most people go to courts for civil cases
Who went to court
For Civil case	42
As Witness in case	16
For Routine verification	15
Only Accompanied relative/friend	14
For Criminal case	13
Note: Response of those who required court’s help. All figures in per cent

Profile of those who approached the court.
Those who	Poor	Rich	Dalit	Upper Caste
Approached court for Civil Case	38	35	36	42
Approached court for criminal cases	15	12	13	14
Note: Response of those who required court’s help. All figures in per cent

Who felt satisfied with their experience with court
Who felt satisfied with their experience with court in	Satisfied (All)	Dalits	Upper caste	Poor	Rich
Civil Case	68	65	72	68	66
Criminal case	58	56	56	58	65
Routine verification	55	56	61	70	61
Note: Response of those who went to court. All figures in per cent

Main reasons for not approaching the courts.
Reasons…
Problem resolved by community	22
Court process lengthy	19
Court process expensive	16
Note: Response of those who did not go to court. All figures in per cent.

Would you suggest your relative to go to court?
	All	Among those who went to Court
Yes, certainly	35	44
Only if there is no other option	32	32
No	13	14
Not sure	20	10
Note: All figures in per cent.

Majority of Indians did not contact the police during last 5 years
Those who
Did not required police help	80
Needed police help & contacted police	17
Needed police help but did not contact the police	3
Note: Response of those who contacted police. All figures in per cent

Why people approach police?
People approached police …
As Victim	27
Accompanied relative/friend	24
For paper work	23
As Witness	13
As Accused	7
As Informant	6
Note: Response of those who contacted police. All figures in per cent

Profile of those who interacted with police
	Dalits	Upper caste	Poor	Rich
Interacted with police as victim	22	22	22	24
Interacted with police as accused	8	5	9	5
Interacted with police for paper work	15	25	20	24
Note: Response of those who contacted the police. All figures in per cent

Who felt satisfied with their experience with Police
Who felt satisfied with their experience with Police as	Satisfied (All)	Dalits	Upper caste	Poor	Rich
Victim	49	48	45	45	46
Accused	46	64	56	23	50
Paper work	68	78	63	63	77
Note: Response of those who contacted the police. All figures in per cent

Reason for not contacting Police
Those who said…
Problem resolved by community	22
Police complicates the matter	19
Police is unfair	17
Note: Response of those who did not interact with police. All figures in per cent

Would you advise your relatives to approach police?
	All	Among those who had contacted the Police
Yes	56	65
No	23	22
Not sure	21	13
Note: All figures in per cent

How people expect police to treat others
	Yes (All)	Opinion of Women
Police would treat men and women equally	36	34
	Yes (All)	Opinion of Dalits
Police would treat dalits and Upper caste equally	33	32
	Yes (All)	Opinion of Muslims
Police would treat person from majority and minority community equally	30	31
	Yes (All)	Opinion of Poor
Police would treat rich and poor equally	32	29
Note: Rest Can’t Say/Don’t Know. All figures in per cent.