DRAFT RULES OF CRIMINAL PRACTICE, 2020.

• Recently, the Supreme Court gave two months to high courts and states to implement a set of guidelines meant to streamline inadequacies and deficiencies in criminal trials.
• These guidelines are referred to as Draft Rules of Criminal Practice, 2020.
• The Draft Rules recommends reforms in investigation and trial, including proposals to employ separate teams of lawyers to help the police during the probe and for the trial; details to be covered while drafting spot panchnamas and even corrections in body sketches.

Criminal Justice System in India

Criminal Justice System refers to the agencies of government charged with enforcing law, adjudicating crime, and correcting criminal conduct.

Objective:

• To prevent the occurrence of crime.
• To punish the transgressors and the criminals.
• To rehabilitate the transgressors and the criminals.
• To compensate the victims as far as possible.
• To maintain law and order in society.
• To deter offenders from committing any criminal act in the future

Need for Reforms

• The criminal justice system- both substantive and procedural- are replica of the Bristish colonial jurisprudence, which were designed with the purpose of ruling the nation.
• Therefore, the relevance of these 19th century laws is debatable in the 21st century.
• The purpose of the criminal justice system was to protect the rights of the innocents and punish the guilty, but nowadays the system has become a tool of harassment of common people.
• According to Economic Survey 2018-19, there are about 3.5 crore cases pending in the judicial system, especially in district and subordinate courts, which leads to actualization of the maxim Justice delayed is justice denied.”
• India has one of the world’s largest numbers of undertrial prisoners.
• According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)-Prison Statistics India, 67.2% of our total prison population comprises of under trial prisoners.
• Police are being a front line of the criminal judiciary system which played a vital role in the administration of justice. Corruption, huge workload and accountability of police is a major hurdle in speedy and transparent delivery of justice.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT