Need for Application of Judicial Mind in Granting Remand: Discerning the Nexus between Remand Periods and Media Pressure

-By Tanmay Gupta and Yashasvi Raj Introduction  As per Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (“Code”), an accused can be remanded for a maximum period of fifteen days at a time, up to ninety days. Conventionally, since the first day is included in the 24-hour production before the Magistrate, in practice, the maximum …

Police in India: Protectors against Injustice or Perpetrators of Injustice?

By Gahna Rajani and Himanshu Bhargava Introduction J Jayaraj and Bennix Immanuel were subjected to brutal torture in police custody and later succumbed to death. This was not the first incident. The prisoners in India have been subjected to torture and violence for a long time. The apex court has issued several guidelines in the …

Death Penalty under Section 31A of NDPS Act, 1985.

By Mehar Kaur Arora No individual has the right to take the life of another unless done in accordance with the due process of law and in the best interest of the general public. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) has been criticised heavily for its stringent punishments, including that of …

The 2019 Amendment to POCSO: A Socio-Legal Analysis

By Tanvi Rahim and Sannidhi Buch The 2019 Amendment “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” -Nelson Mandela Sexual abuse of children is a dark reality which is prevalent in several countries. A recent review of 55 studies from 24 countries found that …

Section 67 of IT Act 2000: Scope, Misuse and the Striking Inadequacy

By Shubhra Agarwal and Anusha Agarwal INTRODUCTION The Information Technology Act, 2000 has been contentious legislation since its enactment. The Act gave a new direction to how cyber-crimes are dealt with in India. However, the question we ask today is whether it fits satisfactorily in the current scenario or does it require revision. One particular …

Preventive Detention and the Dangers of Volcanic, Ever-Proximate, Ideologies

By Abhinav Sekhri “81. As mentioned in para 37 of this judgment, while addressing his arguments on the ideology nourished and nurtured by the detenue, the learned Advocate General submitted that such ideology cannot be confined or limited to time to qualify it to be called stale or fresh or proximate, unless, of course, the person …

Emanating Consequences of AI in Healthcare- Ethicality and Legality

By Ranjeet Soni and Rohit Shrivastava INTRODUCTION “Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last unless we learn how to avoid the risks.” -- Stephen Hawking In the twenty-first century, technology’s role in the domain of healthcare has grown leaps and bounds. Previously in this …

Attachment of Property, Freezing Orders, and PMLA Investigations: The Need for Reasonable Exclusions

By Abhinav Sekhri In almost any prosecution, the property used to commit a crime becomes case property (a murder weapon). In some kinds of prosecutions, this extends to locking down the site of criminal acts (a brothel or a gaming house). There are also other prosecutions, such as those for money laundering, where a major focus is on identifying …

UAPA, 1967: A Draconian Law to Combat Terrorism

By Diksha Singh “Adherence to the constitutional principle of substantive due process is an integral part of our collective response to terrorism. We must uphold the right of fair trial for all individuals, irrespective of how heinous their crimes may be.”[i] Terrorism persists as an iniquitous operation in society that has shaken the entire human …

Section 378 CrPC: Impediments to Justice faced by Appellate Courts

By Shailendra Shukla and Yash More Introduction The word “appeal” is not defined in the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (“Cr.P.C”). As per the Black Law's Dictionary[i], an appeal is defined as “a complaint to a higher tribunal of an error or injustice committed by a lower tribunal, in which the error or injustice is sought …

The Nuances of Search and Seizure of Electronic Evidence: What Are the Components Involved?

By Anurag Mohan Bhatnagar and Manvendra Shekhawat Introduction We live in an era in which, almost every crime has an electronic component involved, and be it a computer or mobile phones or even a small SD Card. Mobile phones, laptops, computers can be used for carrying out crime and can further be helpful for investigating …

COVID-19 – XVI: Monitoring the Prisoners Beyond the Prisons: GPS Tracking for Interim Bails/Paroles

By Bodhisattwa Majumder and Ritika Acharya A pandemic does not discriminate on the basis of class, community or character and strikes every section of the society equally. However, the precautions one can take against the virus are highly prejudiced and biased based on an individual’s financial, social and geographical position in the society. While society …

Section 144 Cr.P.C. — Part VI: Continuity and Change (1941 to 1950)

By Abhinav Sekhri (This is the sixth post in a multi-part series. The earlier posts can be accessed here) The two previous posts in this series charted the slow but determined emergence of Section 144, in what was the Criminal Procedure Code of 1898, as an integral part of the toolkit of repressive laws that was …

Inimical Witnesses: Can Animosity Affect the Credibility of a Witness?

By Ritika Goyal “Enmity is a double-edged sword. It can be a ground for assault. It can also be a ground for false implication.” More than 150 years ago, Bentham stated that “Witnesses are eyes and ears of justice.” Undoubtedly, witnesses are important players in the judicial system and help the Judges in arriving at …

Conceptualizing a Kautilyan Criminal Justice System

By Kaartikay Agarwal “It is the power of punishment alone when exercised impartially in proportion to the guilt, and irrespective of whether the person punished is the King’s son or an enemy, that protects this world and the next” – Chanakya Reformation of a Penal Code based on 19th-century Victorian ideals has been a constant process …

Sentencing Policy of India: A Critical Analysis and Suggestions [Part II]

By Shivam Mishra and Dharmesh Basedia In the concluding part of the bipartite blog series, the authors continue their discussion on the undesirable effect of Indian sentencing policy in the constitutional touchstone. An imperative analysis of the Constitutional touchstone has been followed by suggestions including the adaption of measures enshrined under the Coroners and Justice …

The Sentencing Policy of India: A Critical Analysis and Suggestions [Part I]

By Shivam Mishra and Dharmesh Basedia In the opening part of this bipartite blog series, the co-authors take a gestalt perspective to carefully analyze the sentencing policy of India, its evolvement and ranging wide discretion power entrusted to judges. The compelling concern of such wide range power and its effect in the form of different …

Mobile Phones and Criminal Investigations

By Abhinav Sekhri [This post first appeared on the author's blog, 'The Proof of Guilt'.] I've put out a short primer/paper (made with friends) explaining the basics about mobile phones and criminal investigations. This is meant to help convey the legal issues that arise in the context of the following: (i) seizure of a phone by …

Parental Child Abduction and the Extraordinary Application of s.188 CrPC.

By Samarth Srivastava INTRODUCTION In today’s globalised world, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs; Indian citizens who work overseas on a visa and are actually Indian citizens) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs; people who live overseas and are Indians by descent) form an important part of the economic and social prosperity of many countries across the globe. …

Reverse Onus Clauses: Validity, Regulation and the Correlation with Death Penalty

By Abinand Lagisetti Introduction One of the most fundamental characteristics of the complex Indian Criminal Law framework is the presumption of innocence bestowed upon the accused by the Courts and the burden of proof conferred upon the prosecution to prove the accused’s guilt. This principle was borrowed from English criminal law system and has been …

Different Timelines for Different Defamation Cases

By Lalit Ajmani  It is quite common to witness vexatious litigations that are devised solely to harass and torture the other party. Resultantly, the innocently accused person has to suffer a great ordeal of defending the criminal/civil case and sometimes gets defamed by the vexatious litigation initiated by the other, both for no reasons. Law …

Law Against Police Brutality

By Bhoomika Agarwal Policemen so cherish their status as keepers of the peace and protectors of the public that they have occasionally been known to beat to death those citizens or groups who question that status.      - David Mamet The events that took place in the last few months have raised a very essential question …

Whether Section 37 of NDPS Act Renders the Provision of Anticipatory Bail Infructuous

By Nayan Grover Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (“NDPS Act”) is a Sue Generis Code and thus anything provided in this act will prevail over the general law. The offences under the NDPS Act are considered to be of more serious nature than usual and also viewed with more scrutiny by the courts. …

Three Strikes and You’re Out: Indian Criminal Legislation Needs Baseball Rules?

By Sri Hari Mangalam Introduction Three Strikes and you are out, a common baseball phrase is also the underlying principle for criminal penalties in America. The measure originally enacted to curb the increase in violent crimes across the country is as of now, centred in a few states. California passed the law in 1994, in …

The Credibility of Child Witnesses

By Himanshu Tyagi The Supreme Court of India recently emphasized on the need of having special public prosecutors in the case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The Hon’ble Court observed that the prosecutors must be trained to deal with child witness in sexual harassment cases. As we all …

Deconstructing Section 46(3) of the CrPC: A Tacit Approval for Encounters

By Keshab Roy Choudhury Introduction The concept of justice is an ever-elusive one. What exactly does one mean when they say they want justice? In the Indian context, the concept of ‘instant justice’ has entered the discourse again post the rape and murder of a 26-year-old doctor in Hyderabad last year. This ‘instant justice’, in …

COVID-19 – X: Jharkhand High Court’s Recent Bail Conditions: Improper exercise of Judicial Discretion?

By Harpreet Singh Gupta Recently, while hearing a revision petition, the Jharkhand High Court enlarged the accused on bail who was sentenced for one year for obstructing running of trains, etc. under Section 174(a) of the Railways Act. The conditions that the court put were rather interesting. The accused were directed to: (a) deposit Rs. …

Protest Petitions as a Tool to Check Unconvincing Closure of Cases

By Devangana Kuthari and Ishani Mookherjee The term ‘Protest Petition’ has not been defined under any statute in India, whether the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973 or the Indian Penal Code, 1860. However, it has been accepted in practice and has been a part of the criminal procedure in India, even before independence, though with …

COVID-19 – VIII: Plea Bargaining- A Simple Solution for Difficult Times

By Nishtha Nikhil Gupta  The lockdown due to COVID-19 has impacted one and all. The courts are no exception to it. While many courts are not working, yet some others are hearing only urgent and important matters. Even the Supreme Court has been hearing only important cases through video conferencing. The Supreme Court has ordered …

COVID-19 – VI: India’s Decaying Bail System: A Virus Exposes the Truth

By Tanay Singh and Tanya Rathod INTRODUCTION The term bail essentially means the interim release of an accused from the judicial custody and to place him/her under the custody of some monetary assurance to serve the accused person his right to enjoy the personal freedom. Granting of bail in the Indian criminal justice system has …

Section 144 Cr.P.C. — Part V: Combating the Repressive Law (1921 to 1940)

By Abhinav Sekhri (This is the fifth post in a multi-part series. Earlier posts can be accessed through here) The previous post in this series discussed how a growing political consciousness across British India led worried administrators to use the law as a means to suppress civil liberties. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code …

Analysing The Use Of Artificial Intelligence in Criminal Sentencing through the Loomis Decision

By Rishabh Warrier Introduction Modern times have seen our lives being pervaded by algorithms, from suggestions on Netflix to music recommendations. An area where this pervasion is seeing a stark increase is in the domain of criminal sentencing. Prisons in the United States hold more people than any other country across the world. This problem, …

Extra-Judicial killings: A solution for preventing crime in Adityanath’s UP?

By Amrashaa Singh The recent killing of the four accused in the Hyderabad veterinary doctor’s rape case created a huge hue and cry across the nation. While some people praised the incident, others pointed out the human rights violations caused by the incident. Many famous personalities, praised it, including Jaya Bachchan, a Rajya Sabha M.P., …

The Probation of Offenders Act, 1958- An Extremely Crucial but Underplayed Legislation

By Shreyash Mittal Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Hate the crime, not the criminal.” Introduction The aim of the criminal justice system is the reformation of criminals rather than inflicting punishment on them. Probation is an alternative to the customary form of punishments, where instead of sending the offender into the jail; he is released on …

Looking Beyond Retribution: A Plea To Abolish Capital Punishment

By Ashna D After making innumerable attempts to postpone their execution, Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh, the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case have been hanged to death on 20th March 2020. In recent years, there has been a heightened support in favour of imposing the capital punishment for …

Scope of Judicial Discretion in Sentencing

By Nipun Kalra INTRODUCTION Judgement is not upon all occasions required, but discretion always is. -Philip Stanhope Discretion is said to be the right or the power to make official decisions using reasoning and accurate judgment of the circumstances while choosing from the available alternatives. The exercise of this power is considered to be omnipotent …

Nirbhaya Case: An Analysis of the Cyclic Syndrome of Delay and Pendency

By Raj Shekhar and Zevesh Modi “Justice delayed is justice denied.” Abstract On December 16th, 2012 a young paramedical intern was beaten, brutalized and raped by five men and a juvenile on a moving bus. They threw her out afterwards and thereafter, she died due to her injuries and internal bleeding. This case sparked a …

Privatization of Prisons and the Constitution in India

By Yagnesh Sharma INTRODUCTION India is viewed as an emerging superpower in the world that we live in today, and one of the major reasons for this status of India is attributed is to the sheer workforce that is translated to the population of the country. This population, however, brings its own problems. While India …

The Power to Discharge in Summons Cases Issued Upon Complaint: Judicial Divergence and Future Considerations

By Aditya Suresh Introduction The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 [“CrPC”] aims at consolidating the law pertaining to criminal procedure in India and seeks to ensure a fair and speedy trial, by encompassing the procedural powers and safeguards necessary for the purpose of effective criminal law administration. Chapter XX of the CrPC deals with the …

Privacy Judgement: Impact on Law of Searches

By Samarth Sansar “The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution.”[1] A 9- judge bench of the Supreme Court in Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) and Anr. vs Union Of India …

The Accused Person’s Right to Rely on Exculpatory Material at the Stage of Framing of Charges

By Nipun Kalra INTRODUCTION The right to seek discharge is one of the most important rights of an accused in a criminal justice system. This gives an opportunity to the court to filter out the cases which are meritless. However, at this stage, the court is confronted with very limited material. In a large number …

Mercy Petitions: The Need for Regulation

By Viti Bansal A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking framing of proper procedures, rules, and guidelines for the disposal of mercy petition in an effective and time-bound manner. According to the petitioner, the rights of both the convicts as well as that of the victims under Article 14 …

Seizure of Motor Vehicles and Violation of Human Rights

By Deeksha The seizure of vehicles by police officers has been a matter of great legal concern in recent years. The police stations around the country are now being converted into dumping yards for seized vehicles with these confiscated vehicles gathering dust over a number of years.[i] Section 102 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 …