At the end of 2012 close to two crore criminal cases were pending in the district and subordinate courts in India. As a result, about 23 percent of the undertrial people remain in detention for more than a year in various prisons across India. This alone speaks volumes about the inadequacy of the criminal justice system. Among other reasons, this inadequacy can be attributed to unnecessary arrests by police, tendency of the magistracy to strictly follow procedural safeguards, lack of early access to counsel, lack of infrastructure, and inadequate court management. The Indian judicial system is struggling to uphold the constitutional promises. Speedy trial, presumption of innocence, and due process rights have become a farce today. With confidence in the criminal justice system at an all-time low, something needs to be done.The likes of A Raja, Sanjay Dutt and Lalu Prasad can afford effective lawyers, but what about others who at every step are treated unfairly by a system which chooses to detain and forget?
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 08:13:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015