Common Cause Annual Report

As curtains are drawn on 2024, the Common Cause team is ready with yet another Status of Policing in India Report (SPIR), sixth in a row, on the use of force, violence and torture by the police. A first-of-its-kind report is based on surveys and interviews with serving police officers across the country. The report is in the final stage of design and printing and ready for release in early 2025. The flagship report is part of the organisation’s sustained work on police reforms.

The year has seen many upheavals and upsets but it will be remembered for the landmark Supreme Court judgment in the Electoral Bonds matter in which Common Cause and the Association for Democratic Reforms were among the main petitioners. The long-awaited judgment came seven years after the PIL was filed in 2017 but it scrapped the Electoral Bonds Scheme as unconstitutional which was our main prayer. The court upheld our argument that the arbitrary scheme was legalising electoral corruption while undermining the ordinary voters’ right to make informed choices. In the process, the two petitioners also filed and won an instant contempt of court case when the State Bank of India attempted to delay and obscure the information sought by the court. Our other prominent PIL, on the domestic workers’ rights and dignity, was disposed of with the liberty to file a new petition taking into account the developments of the last many years, mainly because the court had not issued notices to the authorities concerned. A new and revised petition is already in the works.

This year, the eponymous Common Cause journal has completed 42 years of continuous publication. Many new members have also joined the society. The team continued its advocacy around the rule of law and governance reforms organising and participating in related events throughout the year. As part of our engagement with students and young people, we helped in conceptualising and delivering a curriculum on the Rule of Law at Shiv Nadar University and another academic engagement is also being planned at Ashoka University in 2025. During the year, the Inclusive Media for Change project moved to Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation after the latter showed interest in running and upscaling its work in the future.

Advocacy and Research Initiatives:

Police Reforms Report (SPIR) 2024

a. Status of Policing in India The latest Status of Policing in India Report (SPIR) on the use of force, violence and torture by the police while discharging their routine functions, is getting ready for release. Long interviews and elaborate surveys with police personnel have been conducted across the country in collaboration with the Lokniti network of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), our long-term academic partners. The team has also analysed the existing official data and conducted in-depth interviews with key stakeholders of custodial violence including doctors and magistrates. Like all our earlier reports, this too is the first study of its kind in India to examine the nature and causal factors that contribute to police torture in India. While the earlier SPIRs have also tackled issues of police violence, the current report examines why violence is normalised in police practice, despite legal safeguards and institutional mechanisms.

The Status of Policing in India Report (SPIR) is a policyoriented study of policing and law enforcement in India and it has become an important part of the organisation’s portfolio of activities since 2018 when the first report came out on citizens’ trust in the police and the levels of their satisfaction with its working. With continued support from our philanthropic partner, the Lal Family Foundation, the work has already started on conceptualising yet another report to be released in 2026. Attempts are also being made to attract more funders for the organisation’s programme on police reforms.

The team is also getting the SPIR studies translated into Hindi. So far, the translation work has been completed for the reports on citizens’ trust and satisfaction in the police, a Study of Performances and Perceptions (SPIR 2018), and Policing in the COVID-19 Pandemic (SPIR 2020-21, Volume1). The translation is currently under review for quality.

b. India Justice Report 2024

Common Cause continues to be a main collaborator in compiling and bringing out the India Justice Report (IJR) along with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Centre for Social Justice, Daksha, TISS-Prayas, and Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, under the chief editorship of Ms Maja Daruwala. The IJR uses official statistics from government sources to rank the capacity of the justice system in the Indian states based on quantitative measurements of budgets, human resources, infrastructure, workload and diversity across the four pillars of the justice system, i.e., police, prisons, judiciary, and legal aid.

Common Cause is contributing to data analysis and the essay for the next IJR which is also ready for release in 2025 concentrating on policing, its area of core competence.

IMPORTANT EVENTS

Three Newly Introduced Criminal Laws, IIC-Annexe, 26 Feb, 2024

Common Cause, in partnership with the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms, (CJAR) organised a panel discussion on ‘Decoding the Three Criminal Laws’ on 26th February 2024 at the India International Centre. The idea was to discuss and analyse the newly introduced laws whose stated purpose was to decolonise the Indian justice system and ensure timebound completion of trials. The main speakers at the well-attended conference were Justice Madan B Lokur, former judge of the Supreme Court of India, Prof. G Madan Gopal, former director of the National Judicial Academy, Ms. Vrinda Grover, senior advocate, Prof. Anup Surendranath, Professor at the National Law University, and Advocate Mr Sarim Naved. The discussion was moderated by activist and Governing Council member Ms Anjali Bhardwaj while the Director introduced the two main organisers, CJAR and Common Cause, to the audience.

“Gaps in Justice – Way Forward”, New Delhi, February 26, 2024

Common Cause was invited to make a presentation at a seminar on “Gaps in Justice- Way Forward” organised by Ujjawal Women’s Association, New Delhi on February 26, 2024. The event was attended by the members of several of Delhi’s well-known women’s organisations. The event aimed at deepening the understanding of the gaps in India’s justice system to evolve suitable interventions, especially on issues concerning women and their interactions with the police. The findings of the two databased reports—SPIR and IJR— were presented by Ms Maja Daruwala, Chief Editor of India Justice Report, a collaborative venture of many civil society partners, Common Cause Director Dr Vipul Mudgal and his colleague Mr Udit Singh.

Court Administration and Management: Focus & Concerns, New Delhi, February 24, 2024

Common Cause team participated in a wellattended seminar organised by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), The Wire and the Live Law, on “Supreme Court Judicial Administration & Management Issues & Concerns…” at the Indian Society for International Law, New Delhi, on February 24, 2024. The seminar began with Common Cause Director, Dr Vipul Mudgal, paying tribute to Fali S Nariman, one of India’s best-known jurists of our times and a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court, on behalf of the civil society organisations. The seminar brought together former judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, academicians, activists, lawyers and students.

Money and Muscle Power in Indian Elections, March 10, 2024

Common Cause participated in a conference organised by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) at the India International Centre on March 10, 2024, on the theme “General Elections 2024: Issues, Challenges & Opportunities”. The programme was divided into two sessions, ‘Integrity & Inclusiveness of Indian Elections’ and ‘Money, Muscle, and Election in India’. Common Cause Director Dr Vipul Mudgal, who is also a trustee of ADR, chaired the second session and shared his views on the subject. The main speakers in the session were Justice Madan B Lokur, former judge of the Supreme Court of India, Ms Reena Gupta, State Secretary of Aam Adami Party, Mr Krishna Allavaru, Joint Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee and National in-charge of the Indian Youth Congress, and Dr Jeet Singh Mann, professor and director of Centre for Transparency and Accountability in Governance, at the National Law University, Delhi.

Survey to Grasp Post Covid Affects, January 21, 2024

Common Cause Director Dr Vipul Mudgal participated in a brainstorming meeting with the members of the Responsible Coalition for Resilience Communities (RCRC) coalition. The members include Mr KP Krishnan, IAS (Retd), Ms. Wilma Wadhwa, Director, ASER Centre, Mr M R Madhavan, Director PRS, Dr. Sonalde Desai, University of Maryland and NCAER, Mr Ved Arya, Founder Director of the Budha Institute, noted economist Mr Vijay Shankar, among others

Letter to ECI on technology accountability and digital platforms to safeguard electoral Integrity April, 8th 2024, New Delhi

Eleven civil society organisations, including Common Cause, wrote to the Election Commission of India (“ECI”) in a collaborative effort, highlighting the role of technology in affecting electoral processes and outcomes. The letter included an urgent appeal to the ECI to uphold the integrity of the elections and hold political parties, candidates, and digital platforms accountable to the voters. Some of the concerns highlighted in the letter were the unmonitored targeted online campaigns and surrogate advertisements used to influence voter perceptions, the use of emerging technologies such as deepfakes and the inadequacies of the voluntary code of conduct signed by the digital platforms for self-regulation of political content. The signatories to the letter include the Internet Freedom Foundation, Article 21, Association for Democratic Reforms, Common Cause, Software Freedom Law Centre, India, along with six other civil society organisations.

Master Class on EvidenceBased Research to RCRC Faculty, New Delhi

On 3rd May 2024, Responsible Coalition for Resilient Communities (RCRC), an NGO working among marginalised rural communities, invited Common Cause Director Dr Vipul Mudgal to take a session on research training of the organisation’s team working in the field. The idea of the session was to acquaint the NGO workers with the basic features of ground-based research. The topic of the session was “Treading the Path of EvidenceBased Research: The Journey So Far & Beyond.” The session was devoted to the romance of research and the fruits of data-based analysis for rational policymaking.

The State of Youth Representation: Panel Discussion, New Delhi, May 8, 2024

On 8th May 2024, Ms Radhika Jha, Project Lead of the Rule of Law Programme, represented Common Cause at a wellattended online discussion on “State of Youth Representation: Young Candidates in the 2024 Indian Election.” The panel was part of the Centre for Youth Policy’s “18 Dialogues for the 18th Lok Sabha”. It was a series of conversations on the pivotal role of youth in shaping the 2024 general elections. She spoke on the day-to-day issues youth face using empirical data from credible sources.

UGC Lecture on Policing & Human Rights, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, June 10, 2024

On 10th June 2024, Dr Vipul Mudgal addressed a batch of young faculty members from different corners of the country and from multiple disciplines. The lecture was part of the 2-week refresher course in “Human Rights & Social Inclusion (Interdisciplinary). The event was organised by the Malviya Mission Teacher Training Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, University under the aegis of the UGC. The well-attended lecture concluded with an animated round of questions and answers. Later, the participants answered questions based on the SPIR reports as part of their evaluation.

Unpacking India’s 2024 Lok Sabha Elections: Voter Sentiments and Future Trajectories

On June 13th 2024, the Asian Democracy Network (ADN), a pan-Asia partnership of civil society organisations working to strengthen democracy, invited Common Cause Director Dr Vipul Mudgal to a panel discussion on the outcomes of the recent Indian elections and their broader implications for democratisation in India and the wider region. Dr Kaustav Bandyopadhyay, Director of Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), moderated the panel discussion. The other participants of the panel discussion were Ms Meena Menon, President of Working Peoples’ Coalition, Dr Niranjan Sahoo, Senior Fellow, of Observer Research Foundation, and senior journalist Ruhi Tiwari. The panel discussion focused attention on India’s democratic institutions and the role of the Election Commission of India in conducting free and fair elections. The participants noted that the results also reflect a mature electorate capable of nuanced decision-making even amidst polarised campaigns.

Brainstorming Discussion with DIG Cybercrimes, UP

On April 9, 2024, a team of India Justice Report organised a discussion with Mr Pawan Kumar, DIG, Cybercrimes, Uttar Pradesh. The discussion was on the police capabilities pertaining to cybercrimes and the processes and infrastructure to deal with such crimes. The conversation helped arrive at indicators and data for further state-level analysis under the larger theme of cybercrime. Radhika Jha, project lead of Rule of Law, Common Cause, joined the discussion as one of the organisers.

Press Conference on Shadow Advertisements

On April 16, 2024, the Global Coalition for Tech Justice organised a press conference to ring the alarm bells about tech platforms’ failures to protect people and democratic processes during elections. The event included a discussion on the Indian elections and evidence collected by Eko, the London Story and India Civil Watch International on shadow advertising, disinformation and hate speech on Facebook in India and Meta’s failure to curb this. Radhika Jha from Common Cause participated in the event as a steering committee member of the coalition.

Memoirs of a Top Cop: Unforgettable Chapters

On September 1, 2024, Common Cause and the Indian Police Foundation co-organised a book launch of Governing Council Member and former DGP of Assam and Uttar Pradesh, Mr Prakash Singh, at the India International Centre, New Delhi. Retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice Madan Lokur graced the event as the chief guest. Among a galaxy of speakers, Common Cause Director Dr Vipul Mudgal shared his views about the book and his association with Mr Singh, first as a journalist and later as part of Common Cause. The book is a candid account of Mr Singh’s memoirs as a top cop and his experiences of tackling insurgency and striking a balance between law enforcement and the wishes of the elected political executive. It also throws light on his campaign for police reforms in India.

Twenty-Ninth Meeting of CHDC, BIS, New Delhi, Sep 13th, 2024

Senior Legal Consultant, Swapna Jha, represented Common Cause at the 29th meeting of the Chemical Division Council (CHDC) of the Bureau of Indian Standards in hybrid mode on 13th Sep 2023. The meeting was focused on the standardisation in the field of chemicals and chemical products, paper stationary items, occupational health, safety, environmental management and protection, waste management and aspects of sustainability relevant to the environment and Chemical Hazards. Dr Sourav Pal, Professor & Head, Dept of Chemistry, Ashoka University, Sonipat chaired the meeting attended by members of the scientific community, civil society organisations and government authorities.

Online Consultation on Social Audits and Policing

On July 13, 2024, a group of domain experts held an online consultation to discuss the potential for a social audit of the police in India. This was a follow-up to a larger discussion on revising and broadening the existing social audit standards Project Lead on Police Reforms, Radhika Jha represented Common Cause in the meeting attended by civil society organisations, academics and researchers. Some of the issues discussed were the possibility of adapting the Objectives and Minimum Principles of social audits to policing, existing provisions for auditing in legislations such as the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, and learning from, as well as distinguishing the social audits from community policing models. The consultation was organised by the Social Accountability Forum for Action & Research.

Online Consultation on AI: Setting Priorities for the Global Coalition for Tech Justice”

On July 11, 2024, the Global Coalition for Tech Justice organised an online meeting on the priority areas of concern around artificial intelligence, particularly during elections and in human rights spaces. Project Lead on Police Reforms at Common Cause, Radhika Jha, participated in the meeting as a Steering Committee representative. Among the topics discussed in the meeting were challenges arising out of the use of AI in elections and democracies, such as the use of AI to target human rights activists, journalists and civil society members, targeting of women and girls, the shortcomings of AI tools in countering online hate speech and fake news, etc. Member organisations from various countries joined the meeting.

General Assembly Meeting of Global Coalition for Tech Justice,

On July 25, 2024, the Global Coalition for Tech Justice convened a general assembly of over 150 member organisations and individuals. The discussion took stock of the efforts and impact made by the Coalition on ensuring tech justice and the impact of Big Tech on elections across the world, as well as a review of the issues focused on by the Coalition. Radhika Jha from Common Cause participated in the meeting as a member of the Steering Committee and talked about the learnings and activities of the Coalition and some avenues for going forward.

The GCTJ was created to solve the global equity crisis at the centre of tech accountability whereby Big Tech companies headquartered in the global north are very clearly negligent in deal with the impact of their platforms, products and technologies everywhere, with the most severe consequences falling on the global majority. The Coalition developed election briefings concerning the elections in Taiwan, Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico, and India. The coalition has been involved in building a global base of evidence around tech harms and policy failures and has been developing globally impactful policy proposals. In collaboration with advertising agencies, they have held meetings with digital platforms in India and elsewhere to secure disclosures on elections.

Data for Justice: A Colloquium on Criminal Justice in India

The India Justice Report team, in collaboration with Project 39A, National Law University, Delhi, organised a two-day colloquium on criminal justice in India on September 7-8, 2024. The panellists included former judges, economists, academicians and researchers, who spoke about the need for data in criminal justice, the challenges of dealing with official data, different ways of creating data and the future of data in criminal justice. The speakers included S Muralidhar, Former Chief Justice of Odisha High Court, Mahesh Vyas, Managing Director and CEO of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy and Karthik Muralidharan, Tata Chancellor’s Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego. Common Cause team of Udit Singh, Radhika Jha and Vipul Mudgal participated in the colloquium along with the other partners of the IJR.

Guest Lecture at NHRC Online Internship Program, Nov 18th, 2024, New Delhi

The National Human Rights Commission invited Dr Vipul Mudgal, Director and Chief Executive, of Common Cause for a guest lecture on “Media and Human Rights” at a short-term internship program. The wellattended session was followed by an animated round of questions and answers. A large number of students from different streams of law and various universities across India attended the online programme from the 18th to the 29th of November 2024.

Global Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy, Nov 20-23, 2024, Johannesburg

Dr Vipul Mudgal attended the 12th Global Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the invitation of the National Endowment for Democracy where he was a fellow of the International Forum for Democratic Studies in 2020. The first global assembly was held in New Delhi in 1999 when leaders of various disciplines like civil society, journalism, academia, labour and business came together. Two Nobel Peace Laureates were among a galaxy of speakers in various peerlearning sessions.

c. Seminars/Webinars and Conferences:

Global Democracy Conference 2024, May 20- 22, 2024

The Global Democracy Conference (GDC), organised by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, is an integral component of the broader University of Notre Dame Global Democracy Initiative designed to connect academic research and nonacademic audiences. Ms Swapna Jha, senior legal consultant at Common Cause, attended the event.

NHRC Invites Common Cause to a Core Group Meeting on Criminal Justice System Reforms, April 23, 2024

On 23rd April 2024, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) invited Common Cause to a core group meeting on Criminal Justice System Reforms in India. The meeting in hybrid mode was chaired by the NHRC India Chairperson, Justice Arun Mishra in the presence of NHRC members, experts, academicians, representatives of civil society organisations and senior officers of the Commission. Discussions included finding ways to address the delay in forensic reports, areas of improvement in the prosecution system, and the burking of offences. Common Cause director, Dr Vipul Mudgal presented the findings of the Status of Policing in India Report-2018 on the citizens’ trust and satisfaction in the police and its implications for the criminal justice system. The consultation was organised by the Social Accountability Forum for Action & Research. He cited data to highlight areas of inefficiency and insensitivities of the police.

d. Meetings with academics/faculties and experts: Run up to the current SPIR

The Common Cause team reached out to various reputed national and international experts and academics in the field of criminology and policing for discussions around the ongoing SPIR and other research projects. Individual meetings were held with Prof Beatrice Jauregui from the University of Toronto, Prof Andrew Ferguson from Washington University, Prof Arvind Verma, from Pennsylvania University and Prof. Shishir Jha, Dr Kalindi Kokal and Prof Parthasarthy from the Ashok Desai Centre for Policy Studies, IIT Mumbai.

Academic Curriculum on ‘Development and the Rule of Law in India’ at Shiv Nadar University – OctoberNovember 2024

The Common Cause team comprising the Director Dr Vipul Mudgal, Mr Udit Singh, Radhika Jha, and Valay Singh of the India Justice Report (IJR) conducted an extensive and in-depth academic Course on ‘Development and the Rule of Law in India’ for the students of MA (Rural Management) at Shiv Nadar University, Uttar Pradesh, on 24th & 25th October and 27th & 28th November 2024. This was the second in the series of lectures by Common Cause where its successive SPIR studies and IJRs formed the bedrock of an academic course. The Course was divided into 16 lectures delivered in four ninety-minute sessions devoted to the Indian Constitution and the Rule of Law; an introduction to policing in India; An introduction to India’s justice system; and a primer on Crime and Justice in Rural India, Prison System and Legal Aid.

The Course introduced the students of the MA (Rural Management) Program and several faculty members to the foundational legal framework of the country and a critical examination of the functioning of justice institutions. It aimed to build amongst the students an understanding of the roles, scopes and importance of the four pillars of the country’s justice system, i.e., policing, judiciary, prisons and legal aid and introduced them to concepts such as basic structure doctrine, fundamental rights, separation of powers and due process.

Training and Development of Staff

  • a. Udit Singh, legal consultant at Common Cause, attended a quantitative research training workshop organized by the CSDS in Bangalore from 22-28 July 2024.
  • Mohd Aasif, research executive at Common Cause, attended a threeday Online Workshop on Qualitative Methodology organised by Surya Kumar
  • b. Bhuyan School of Social Sciences, Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University in Collaboration with Indian Sociological Society from 4-6 Nov 2024. The workshop included an introduction to the various research skills such as literature review, research design, tools for textual analysis etc.
  • c. Rishikesh Kumar, advocacy consultant at Common Cause, attended a Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon (VDHM) 2024 on fundraising opportunities for NGOs. It was organized by United Way Delhi. The event was aimed at enhancing skills of venturing new avenues of funding and support.

Right to Information Applications

Common Cause routinely files RTI with several authorities across the country to obtain information about its initiatives and various themes and subjects being studied by the team. Some of the recent RTI applications pertain to the following:

a. RTI requests for the Status of Policing in India Report (SPIR)

SPIR team of Common Cause filed two rounds of RTI applications to procure information regarding cases of Human Rights violations in the context of policing in India about unlawful detention, death in police action and police custody illegal detention and custodial violence. On May 24, 2024, the team filed another RTI to inquire about the desegregation of the data on various heads that are clubbed in the commission’s annual reports throughout its lifespan. The analysis of the data has been used in the current SPIR on custodial violence and torture. Another round of RTI applications was filed to the National Commission for Women (NCW) to procure information on complaints received on rape/ attempt to rape, sexual assault/ harassment, and illegal arrest etc.

b. RTI requests for a fresh PIL on securing the dignity of Domestic Workers

Common Cause team filed several RTIs to the concerned authorities at the NHRC, NCW and the Department of Labour to seek information about the nature and number etc of official complaints against the exploitation or the working conditions of domestic workers. The information is to be used in the fresh PIL to be filed in the coming weeks.

c. RTI Requests Regarding the Voluntary Code of Conduct of Digital Platforms

The Common Cause team has filed a bunch of nine RTI applications to the Election Commission of India seeking information about the reported compliance with the voluntary code of conduct of the global digital platforms. This is part of our analysis of the possibilities of digital threats to the conduct of free and fair elections.

Common Cause Representations

(a) Note on One Nation One Election Public Notice

On January 15, 2024, Common Cause submitted its response to the proposal of the government to enable simultaneous elections in the country. The first election cycle for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies was held simultaneously postindependence in 1951-52 and was disrupted thereafter.

Common Cause in its representation said that the MCC merely prevents the ruling parties from misusing the executive power and it does not prevent routine policymaking or ongoing development work. On unnecessary expenditure, it asked if we wished to create the ‘most effective’ democracy or the ‘least expensive’ democracy. We also countered the claims that the engagement of the security forces for a prolonged period was a hassle or that the frequent elections disrupted road traffic or perpetuated caste, religion and communal issues.

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October-December, 2024