"Speedy Justice is the sine qua non of criminal jurisprudence"
The mounting backlog of criminal cases has been a cause of great concern for the courts as also the culprit or the accused. Many culprits have to languish as under trial prisoners as they have not been able to secure bail for various reasons. The culprits have to go mental tortures and also have to spend exorbitant amount in the form of legal expenses and the public exchequer has also to bear the resultant economic burden. During the course of detention as under trial prisoners, the culprits/ accused are often exposed to the card core criminals influences. The accused have the right of speedy justice vested within their jurisdictional capacity being provided in the form of Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India.
Plea Bargaining refers to pre-trial negotiations usually conducted by the counsel between the defendants and the prosecution, during which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for certain concessions by the prosecution. However the concept of plea bargaining is new to the Indian criminal justice system having been accepted recently. The concept began in the western countries and most commonly it is more prevalent in US, UK and Australia. US courts have assumed that as judicial recourses become increasingly burdened guilty pleas and plea bargaining is essential to the efficient administration of Criminal Justice. Indian Supreme Court had reservations about plea bargaining. Since according to the procedure by which a person is convicted on a plea bargaining mode as a result of inducement was considered to be violative of Article 21 of the Constitution which provides that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except in accordance with the procedure established by law.
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2005 incorporated the chapter on Plea Bargaining as Chapter XXI A of CrPC 1973. The Criminal Courts around the country have already started implementing the process of negotiated settlement in criminal cases before them. As far as the mechanism of speedy disposal of cases are concerned; Lok Adalats, Arbitration and other Alternative Dispute Resolution techniques and mode are available to the common man. Plea Bargaining stands on the firm footsteps to resolve criminal cases . The sine qua non for plea bargaining is just an application by an accused wherein he pleads guilty. The court once satisfied w.r.t the voluntary nature of moving such application starts its concern.
Plea Bargaining is comparatively less time consuming and the accused is less financially burdened. The reason behind it is its nature of non-requirement of full-fledged trial proceedings. It is a common saying that pros and cons are the two sides of a same coin, and thus stands as inseparable twins. The concept of Plea Bargaining too, cannot detach itself from the criticism amongst various judicial authorities and lobbyists. There have been cases in past wherein even the Hon'ble Apex Court has considered the concept of plea bargaining as not recognized and as being against the public policy under our Criminal Justice System. Factors such as plea bargaining encourages the culprits / accused being induced to confess to a plea of guilt on an allurement that if he enters a plea of guilty, he will be let off very lightly were also considered by the Apex Court.
The Plea bargaining is a prosopography for thr reduction of backlog of cases undoubtedly. With the time immemorial the judicial authorities stint as a life guard and has exhausted the judicial usages.
Ramakant Gaur
Advocate
Supreme Court of India
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