Kochi leads in chargesheeting rate among metropolitan cities: NCRB

Kochi is leading in filing chargesheets in cases registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLLs) among 19 metropolitan cities in the country, according to the Crime in India 2023 data, published recently by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The city has recorded a chargesheeting rate of 98.9% in 2023, according to the data. Kochi has continued its impressive performance, as the figure was 98% in 2022.

As many as 67,616 cases were registered in the city during 2023 under both IPC and SLLs, the latest NCRB data shows. Kozhikode, the only other Kerala city on the list, also recorded a 96% chargesheeting rate in 2023. The list includes metropolitan cities with a population of over 20 lakh.

Surat comes second on the list with 97.6%, followed by Kozhikode (96%) and Kolkata (94.9%). Delhi falls at the bottom with 32.7%. The national average is just 61.9%. The chargesheeting rate represents the percentage of cases for which police have filed chargesheets out of the total number of cases disposed of.

The pattern is similar when considering crimes under IPC and SLLs separately. In IPC cases, Kochi’s chargesheeting rate for 2023 is 97.2%, while it is 99.8% for SLL cases. The figures for Kozhikode are 93.9% for IPC cases and 99.3% for SLL cases.

The figures of the two metropolitan cities align with the State’s chargesheeting rate of 97.3%, the highest in the country. The rate of cognizable crimes in Kochi, under both IPC and SLL, in 2023 stands at 3,192.4, much higher than 828, the average for the 19 cities. Kozhikode’s figure is 886.4. Crime rate is calculated as the number of crimes per one lakh of population.

The State’s performance in the two key indicators — chargesheeting rate and crime rate — is often attributed to a higher level of willingness to report crimes and better police enforcement.