To lighten huge pile of cases, Govt plans ‘plea bargain’ law

The Vajpayee Government has decided to bring in radical reforms in the criminal justice system to arrest the huge piling up of cases in cour...

The Vajpayee Government has decided to bring in radical reforms in the criminal justice system to arrest the huge piling up of cases in courts across the country.

Legislation is on the anvil to bring in a system of ‘‘plea bargain’’ in regard to minor offences whereby an accused would be offered the option of substantially lower punishment if he admits his guilt in court before the trial begins.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley said he would soon deal with the problem of witnesses turning hostile by making it mandatory for eyewitness statements to be made before magistrates. The current practice of the police recording such statements would consequently be given up.

Story continues below this ad

Coupled with this, punishing perjury would become easier as anybody could file a complaint for it and not just the affected parties.

Jaitley said all these proposals have been sent to the Home Ministry and would be brought before Parliament for legislation after the formal nod from the ministry.

As for the Fast Track Courts (which were his brainchild) he said it had also been decided to transfer to these all cases in which either plaintiff or defendant was above 60.

In Odisha, Modi mounts ‘loot tantra-vs-bachat utsav’ attack on Congress over GST

India2 hr ago

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday hailed the revised Goods and Services Tax (GST) structures, saying the era of “double bachat (saving) and double kamai (income)” has arrived under the Bharatiya Janata Party rule. Addressing the ' Namo Yuva Samabesh' in Jharsuguda, Modi accused the Congress of indulging in “loot tantra (tactics)” while in power.

View all shorts

Live Blog

PHOTOS