Justice A M Khanvilkar and Justice Mrudila Bhatkar asked, "What is the Home Department doing? Are they busy giving protection to VIPs?," they asked.
The court also observed that there was increase in crime cases in the city while the conviction rate had gone down.
The court was informed that a total of 13,425 persons had absconded till date in the state, of which 3,529 were accused of serious offences. In Mumbai alone, there were as many as 5,285 offenders.
However, the state informed the court that 991 absconders had been arrested and proclamation notices issued against 1,366 persons.
In 2005, the court had suo motu taken up the issue regarding absconding accused. The judges wanted to know what the state government had done to ensure that criminals do not abscond.