The Hindu : National : “Criminal jurisprudence system will fail if backlog is not cut”

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“Criminal jurisprudence system will fail if backlog is not cut”

Legal Correspondent

Law Commission moots ‘plea-bargaining’ concept
“Dispense with procedure of executing bail bond at police station’

New Delhi: The present system of criminal jurisprudence will fail if the backlog of cases is not substantially reduced at the earliest, Law Commission Chairman A.R. Lakshmanan said on Monday.

The Commission had recommended that the criminal justice system be completely overhauled. It had “exhorted a radical change in the working of the law enforcement agencies, especially the police and public prosecutors, to contain such delays in the recent past.”

He was speaking at a seminar on ‘speedy justice’ organised by the All India Bar Association here.

Speedy trial was required not only to give quick justice “but it is also an integral part of the fundamental right of life and liberty as envisaged in Article 21 of the Constitution.”

Justice Lakshmanan said the the Commission recently mooted the concept of plea-bargaining — negotiations between the accused and the prosecution in which if the accused agrees to plead guilty to the charges, he/she would get certain concessions as a quid pro quo, with courts taking a lenient view, particularly in cases of lesser gravity.

Cheque bounce cases

Pointing out that over 36 lakh cheque bounce cases filed under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act were pending in various courts, he suggested that fast track courts be set up for expeditious disposal. He also favoured an alternative disputes resolution mechanism such as negotiations, conciliation and mediation, in which nobody would be a loser and all parties would be satisfied at the end of the day.

In his message, Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan said: “It goes without saying that deliberations on strategies for ensuring speedy justice are of the utmost importance for our judicial system. In this regard, programmes such as the present one are significant since they seek to bring together experiences and insights from different stakeholders such as judges, leading practitioners, academics and legal journalists.”

AIBA chairman Adish C. Aggarwala, who presided, wanted judge vacancies filled without delay.

Vice-chairman S. Prabhakaran, while suggesting measures for speedy justice, pointed out that the Madras High Court had recently directed that bail bonds be executed at police stations, instead of before trial courts. This procedure should be dispensed with for, it would delay the accused seeking bail as there was the possibility of police officers refusing to accept the bonds for frivolous reasons. If a magistrate refused to accept the bail bond, one could seek legal remedy but if a police officer refused to accept the bail bond, no remedy would be available.

Other speakers called for cutting down adjournments, fixing a time limit for deciding cases, financial autonomy to the judiciary, increasing the number of courts and creating additional infrastructure to ensure speedy justice.

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