Reforming India’s Justice Budget System

India’s justice system is funded for enforcement, not fairness, leaving courts, legal aid and prisons critically under-resourced today.

Current Status of Justice Financing in India

Budget Neglect: Union Budget 2026–27 shows no targeted funding to improve justice delivery outcomes or strengthen rule of law institutions.
High Spending: About ₹2 lakh crore is spent across 11 major States (2024–25), forming nearly 4.6% of total State budgets on justice systems.
Police Dominance: Over 80% of justice expenditure goes to policing, with per capita police spending around ₹1,616, showing enforcement-heavy priorities.
Aid Gap: Severe imbalance in allocations; ₹450 per capita for judiciary, ₹150 for prisons, and only ₹9 for legal aid, indicating weak access to justice support.

Structural Imbalances in India’s Justice System

Enforcement Bias: Over 80% of justice spending goes to policing, with <1.5% on training and ~1% on forensics despite high overall expenditure.
Judicial Deficit: India has only ~15 judges per 10 lakh population (vs 50 recommended), with ~1% of the budget spent on judicial training, causing huge backlogs.
Prison Overcrowding: Prison occupancy exceeds 130% nationally, with ~30% staff vacancies and negligible training allocation, weakening correctional reform.
Legal Aid Neglect: Legal aid receives just ₹9 per capita, leading to poor access, weak representation, and delayed justice for marginalised groups.
Oversight Weakness: Human Rights Commissions operate with only about ₹0.80 per capita funding and over 40% vacancies, limiting accountability and rights protection.

Drivers of Structural Imbalance in India’s Justice System

Budget Skew: Justice expenditure is heavily concentrated in policing, while judiciary and legal aid receive minimal allocations (₹9 per capita), causing systemic underfunding across core institutions
Low Priority: Justice reforms lack political urgency, reflected in no targeted funding in the Union Budget 2026–27 despite heavy caseloads and backlog crises.
Manpower Bias: Spending is concentrated on salaries and administration, with less than 1.5% on police training and ~1% on judicial training, weakening capacity building.
Capacity Gaps: Severe shortages persist, and over 40% vacancies in oversight bodies like SHRCs.

Implications of Structural Imbalance in India’s Justice System

Access Inequality: Extremely low legal aid spending limits access to justice for marginalised groups, undermining compliance with Article 39A.
Judicial Delay: Shortage of judges leads to case backlogs & delayed adjudication across courts.
Enforcement Bias: Over 80% spending on policing creates an arrest-heavy system, with 26 lakh arrests disproportionately affecting marginalised communities.
Weak Accountability: Underfunded oversight bodies, such as SHRCs (₹0.80 per capita, >40% vacancies), reduce checks on rights violations and institutional abuse.

Way Forward

Budget Rebalance: Increase allocations beyond current skew where policing gets 80% while judiciary (<1%) and legal aid (₹9 per capita) remain critically underfunded.
Judicial Strengthening: Expand the judge strength from 15 per 10 lakh population to the 50 recommended by the Law Commission to reduce massive pendency.
Legal Aid Boost: Scale up legal aid funding from ₹9 per capita to ensure effective access to justice for marginalised groups under Article 39A.
Institutional Reform: Reduce vacancies (>30% in prisons, >40% in SHRCs) and improve training, where current spending is <1.5% in police and ~1% in judiciary.
Outcome Focus: Shift from input-heavy spending to efficiency metrics, as 26 lakh arrests (NCRB 2024) highlight the need for better justice delivery, not just enforcement.

“Justice is rooted in equality” (Article 14); India must rebalance spending to ensure a fair, accessible, efficient, people-centred justice delivery system.

Reference: The Hindu

PMF IAS Pathfinder for Mains – Question 686

Q. India’s justice system is witnessing a growing imbalance between coercive state capacity and accessible justice delivery. Critically examine how disproportionate expenditure on policing over courts, prisons, and legal aid undermines the rule of law and judicial efficiency. Suggest measures for building a people-centric justice system. (250 Words) (15 Marks)

Approach

Introduction: Write a brief introduction about India’s Justice Budget.
Body: write how disproportionate expenditure on policing, courts, prisons, and legal aid undermines the rule of law and judicial efficiency, also mention structural causes of imbalance in India’s justice system, and suggest measures for building a people-centric justice system.
Conclusion: Emphasis on a balanced approach to realise constitutional justice through a people-centred, efficient, and inclusive justice delivery system.