In order to reduce the burden on the courts and also to settle the cases expeditiously, Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Madan B Lokur today said the provisions relating to ‘Plea Bargaining’ have to be taken recourse by the parties and for this awareness has to be created by various stakeholders.
In his Power Point Presentation at the ne-day Seminar on the ‘Concept of Plea Bargaining’ organised by the Andhra Pradesh Police Academy (APPA) here, the Chief Justice referred to the statistics relating to settlement of cases under Plea Bargaining and by drawing a comparison between Indian Law and American Law, he said almost all cases can be settled under Plea Bargaining under American Law but in Indian Law, such settlement is permissible only to some offences for which the punishment is not more than seven years, excluding the offences relating to women and children and offences relating to socio-economic conditions of the Country.
The Chief Justice said the police are not prevented from investigating the cases involving the ingredients of civil nature if they also disclose some trappings of commission of any offence, since in its societal set up, the victim has to invariably look to the Police if any harm is caused to his possession or property by a wrongdoer.
The Judge, however, administered a note of caution that the police should not venture into the domain of cases exclusively of civil nature.
Mr Justice Lokur also pointed out that the concept of Plea Bargaining has become successful in Delhi with the proactive role played by the judiciary, the Police and the Prosecution. The Chief Justice exhorted that the Police in Andhra Pradesh are also evincing keen interest in propagating the concept of plea bargaining by cooperating with the judiciary in bringing down the pendency of cases.
In his speech, Director General of Police V Dinesh Reddy assured full cooperation of the Police in settling the cases under the concept of Plea Bargaining.
For the first time, a pivotal and statutory role is accorded to investigating officers to take part in mutually satisfactory disposition between the victim and the accused and bring out such settlement, he said. The DGP emphasized that the entire process has to be supervised by the concerned court by ensuring that the element of voluntariness is maintained throughout. The DGP urged that the Academy should take this concept to the Police Station level to enhance awareness and to ensure that the real objective of reducing pendency in the Courts and reducing delay in trial process is realized. Senior Police Officers including Additional DGPs, IGPs, SPs, DySPs, Public Prosecutors also attended the Seminar.
Later, the Chief Justice also released a manual on the ‘Concept and Guidelines on Plea Bargaining’ which is brought out by APPA on this occasion. UNI