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| Flexibility Will Accentuate Criminality | | |
Khushwant S Ranial
Human rights values need to be safeguarded. It is already enshrined in the constitution of the India to give safety, security, protection to every citizen of the state and society so that every member of this nation live with dignity. There is no place laid for the human rights violations in our constitutional framework.
Right since the adoption of the constitution on the 26th January 1950, timely review of the constitution to meet the needs of the hour has been made and in the process necessary amendments have been incorporated as well. Perhaps in the same vein, the Lok Sabha stamped a criminal procedure bill already cleared by the Rajya Sabha which offers greater latitude to the criminals to escape of the arrest by the police in those cases where sentence is not beyond seven years. This bill was approved by the Lok Sabha on 23 December 2008 and now it has been forwarded to the President for the final approval and if it seeks positive response and gains green signal , it will prove like a shot in the arm of the criminals to make hay way while the sun shines . Does it make a point that Indians have matured to abide by the rules and regulations honestly or a good sense have prevailed upon all the criminals to possess national character to cooperate with the law executing agencies for quick disposal of the cases pending against them in the court of law? What ever may be the reason but given the circumstances and under the prevailing social scenario across the length and breadth of this nation ,from my personal point of view, it will be no less than a new year bonanza to those who wield muscle and money power and already docked in the land of criminality.
Facilitating the flexibility of law will amount to loosening the grip over the criminals by the police beyond reparable measures .It will straight away offer people of the criminal mindset to settle the scores at their own sweet will and go scot free multiplying the problems of the police. As already, police is in the storm of the public eye for its malfunctioning despite police’s tall claim of rendering yeoman service at the cost of their personal liberty, health and pleasure. Hence police helplessness and handicapped ness to affect the arrest after the formulation, promulgation and augmentation of this new law will jeopardize the victim’s feelings, affect his morale and shatter his psyche who at least get minor solace after the formal arrest of the offender. In the absence of this provision, there is every likelihood that victim may resort at his own to settle the score out of the vengeance, compounding the issue further.
The basic reason to stress is on the account of the fact that we Indian have developed the habit of harping more on the rights and aiming less for discharging the duties and responsibilities. Moreover constitution has not laid mandatory provisions upon us to become the dutiful citizen. So we mostly rely upon gaining the dividends without loosing the sweat and this aim has been imbibed by us for the years together killing our spirit. People up till now do not recognize the fundamental duties and flout them with impunity thus making them merely a laughing stock and a piece of writing placed in the pages of constitution .We consider law but do not streat it the way it should be treated. Under the new proposition such an unbridled liberty will help an offender to escape of the arrests in those cases which carry punishments upto seven years only which include offences like Sedition sec.124A , Rioting sec 148, Promoting enmity between classes sec 153A ,153B ,Taking gift to screen an offender from punishment sec213, Harbouring robbers or dacoits sec 216 A ,Sale etc.,of obscene objects to young persons sec 293,Causing death by rash or negligent act sec 304 A ,Attempt to commit culpable homicide sec 308,Voluntarily causing grievous hurt sec 325 , Assaulting a woman to outrage her modesty sec 354 ,Kidnapping or abducting a person for wrongful confinement sec 365 , Rape sec 376-A/B/C/D ,Theft sec 380,Extortion committed through the fear causing hurt or death sec 387 , Robbery sec 393,397,Criminal breach of trust sec 406, Cheating sec 420 , Forgery for the purpose of cheating ,Possession of counterfeit currency notes sec 489 B/C ,Adultery sec 497 ,Punishment for subjecting a married woman to cruelty sec 498 A and Criminal intimidation sec 506RPC.
Now it is proposed that in the above cited cases where punishment is up to seven years ,police will not effect the arrest and rather put forward a legal notice to an offender to appear in person before the SHO/I.O so that charges could be framed against him and in the case of non co-operation , a second thought of effecting his arrest will be viewed for which again one has knock the doors of justice to seek help by clarifying the reasonable factors which compelled the concerned seeker to seek so.
Police is already working under deep amount of stress and strain due to multifarious demands. Under such a new mooted idea , the system will grow not only corrupt but also get derailed .Neither the police will act and nor the criminal will come suomoto to lend cooperation resultingly the victims would be sandwiched in the process of seeking the justice .Further more under such a liberal mechanism , the police shall not be able collect the weapon of offence or the related incriminating matter to show the recovery from the possession of criminals for solidifying the nature of cases because even under the existing laws , police have to often bank upon sec 512 Cr,.pc for the production of challan in those cases where criminals remain at large for days and months together.
Undoubtedly, an attempt has been made by the legislators to reform the criminal justice system to bring at par with their European counterparts but do not forget that people over there are truly responsive and politicians do not meddle into the police functioning and public reposes full faith in the integrity of a policeman and judiciary stamps the authenticity of police cooked version seriously, largely presuming it to be based on the facts. But, here in India, things are quite reverse the order. It is because Indian political leadership has not gained maturity over the decades and it is still devoid of the political wisdom which revolves around the past feudalistic hegemony where nexus between a landlord and Thanedar flourished and prevailed .The only difference we come to see is that over the years is that landlords have been replaced by more or less money and muscled men keeping intact the old traditional outlook of misusing police as a tool to settle their own score.
Further to add to the woe, prevailing criminal justice system is cumbersome, lengthy, slow and a costly affair beset with the clandestine corruption. Hence, until strong bottlenecks are not plugged at the grass root level, mere clipping the police of its powers is not going to evolve a viable solution. India is a cosmopolitan country where law of land is expected to offer different leverages to different sections of society but it is impracticable .Often one is forced to comprehend that what makes legislators to adopt a soft attitude to deal with the criminals and terrorists both inside and outside the nation .Perhaps they are occupied by their vested interests or dogged by lack of clear vision in their preparation and response to deal effectively with such elements .The war on the terror mongers requires a definition of purpose and specific goals .Remember, offence is the best defence. Affording an offender a ladder to scale and escape the clutches of law will lead to the perpetuation of inter gang rivalries? Hence if the Govt. is sincerely viewing new law’s promulgation to offer a fresh lease of life to the criminal, then it should not out rightly clip the powers of police in the best interest of maintaining the law and order. At the most it may clip the authority of police to keep the offender for ten days by seeking judicial remands in cognizable and non bailable offences and not amounting the arrest of criminals in non cognizable and bailable offences beyond 12hours with the directions to appear in person on the next day for the finalization of the case on merits. In gist, more flexibility means less accountability and this will be pernicious for the developing nation like ours which is already sinking in the troubled waters.
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