A seminar on the significance of plea bargaining conducted at the district jail at Malampuzha near here on Thursday threw light on the advantages of this unique legal measure.
Leading the session for the 200 male and eight female inmates of the jail, V. Vijayakumar, District Judge (Family Court), Kasargod, lamented that almost every stakeholder in the country’s criminal judiciary system was virtually oblivious of the merits of plea bargaining.
Plea bargaining is an arrangement between the prosecutor and the defendant whereby the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for a more lenient sentence or an agreement to drop other charges.
“Plea bargaining can improve our criminal justice system tremendously,” said Dr. Vijayakumar. He urged his colleagues and the legal fraternity to initiate measures to introduce plea bargaining.
District Collector D. Balamurali presided over the seminar organised by the Victims Information, Sensitisation, Welfare and Assistance Society (VISWAS), a voluntary non-governmental body working for the welfare of the victims of various crimes. VISWAS held the seminar as part of celebrating its seventh anniversary.
Mr. Balamurali said that introduction of plea bargaining would help the criminal courts in the country to reduce their pendency of cases. VISWAS secretary and senior grade assistant public prosecutor P. Prem Nath welcomed the gathering. VISWAS vice president Santha Devi; District Jail Superintendent Anil Kumar; VISWAS joint secretary N.
Rakhi; and managing committee member Deepa Jayaprakash spoke.
