According to data on conviction rate for 2014, collated by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and presented by the government in Parliament, the percentage cases in which the accused received punishment stood at over 45%. In 2013, the same figure was 40.2% while in 2012 it stood at 38.5%. In 2014, Kerala was the best performing state with over 77% convictions while Bihar was the worst with just 10%. The trend is significant as since independence conviction rate in cognisable crime (offences which fall under Indian Penal Code) have been consistently falling. The oldest record in this respect is that of 1953, the year when NCRB began collating crime data. In that year, the percentage rate of conviction to total cases tried was almost 64%.In the next decade it improved to 65%. However, 70s onwards it has been consistently declining, dropping to less than 40% in 2012.