- This is one aspect of the Indian judicial delivery system that has been in the news for so long with reams and reams written about the challenges facing the citizens in particular and the country in general. The humongous number of cases awaiting adjudication keeps mounting by the day and the inadequate judges at all levels of the judiciary hardly help in addressing the matter. Lakhs of undertrials awaiting a hearing, seeking relief, and ultimately justice has already overwhelmed the judiciary including the higher echelons. Sporadic efforts at addressing the issue keep hitting the headlines and one such effort is presently underway as the Union Government has renewed its push to decriminalize minor offenses. Better late than never, you see.
PC: P.BHUVAN DEEPAK
- This move has great potential to unclog courts, promote ease of doing business, and relieve citizens fighting criminal cases for non-serious violations. However, the Centre should not restrict itself solely to economic offenses alone. Indeed, the question of whether there’s criminal intent befouls several frequently invoked offenses from colonial-era sedition and criminal defamation to prohibition and new ones criminalizing interfaith marriages. Note that in 2020, many Companies Act provisions were decriminalized with reports that 128 provisions across 28 Acts could follow next.
- Sadly, progress on this front slowed down subsequently for want of intent. Nonetheless, if Union Government’s fresh push yields results, state governments could be impelled to act. As you are aware, many local laws and regulations that trip individuals and businesses are enacted by them. And as such, reversing the course isn’t that easy at all. For instance, Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, in popular parlance cheque bounce cases, was criminalized in 1988. This is reportedly among the consequential laws being considered for easing. Arguments that this section deters issuing of bad cheques must content with huge judicial pendency-around 35 lakh cases as of early 2021 or 15% of the pendency in subordinate courts.
PC: Mustafa Plumber
- Pragmatically speaking, with doubts about the efficacy of jail terms, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms may be a win-win for all sides. We all know how Bihar’s prohibition law that jammed courts and prisons was amended with emphasis on monetary penalties recently but still errs towards criminalization. The harassment of businesses on technical grounds through a raft of central, state, and municipal laws is another common phenomenon. While the value of reformative justice where individuals are allowed to self-correct has crept into the Government of India’s thinking on economic offenses, many criminal, special, and local law provisions equally need liberal approaches like compounding of offenses, ADR, or community service.
- It is worth recalling that most criminal cases in 2020 involved social distancing violations unnecessarily clogging the courts. Thus, freeing up judges to focus on heinous crimes and enforcement of contracts is imperative to not only help courts but also give citizens the peace of mind as also sense of security they richly deserve.
