Should Plea Bargaining be allowed?
- Ishita Singh
- June 24, 2020
Abstract :
The research paper attempts to explore the fundamental question: whether plea bargaining should be allowed in the Indian Judicial System? “Justice delayed is justice denied” and in the Indian legal system there have been a huge number of pending cases. Due to these delays the people lose their faith and belief in justice. There has been an extensive research on these delays however very less research has been done on the introduction of plea bargaining system to help eradicate this problem and ensure speedy justice. The paper is a catalyst for the framework, policies and standards and scope for the future of the judicial system by the introduction of plea bargaining.
But what is plea bargaining? Plea Bargaining, in its most conventional sense, refers to the negotiation between the parties to the trial during which the accused voluntarily plead guilty for the offence he has committed in return of a promise of reduced punishment by the prosecution. It is usually to drop the charges or to reduce the sentence. The research paper will be elucidating the various types of plea bargaining systems and how the Indian model of plea bargaining can act as a savior for speedy delivery of justice.
The research paper deals with the introduction of plea bargaining, the three models of plea bargaining, the reason that led to its introduction, the historical background of plea bargaining with the rationale given by the law commission of India, a break-down of the procedure practiced by India and a comparative study between plea bargaining system of US and India. To support the research, the paper will include the arguments that are presented against plea bargaining system and the researcher will present counter arguments as to why introduction of plea bargaining is necessary in India. Further, the view of the Supreme Court would be analyzed with the help of various precedents.
The methodology of research is doctrinal and sources are secondary in nature. The basic source of information is publically available information on various legal databases, books, journals, articles, etc. For the legal sanctions, help of laws, case laws, reports and legislations are given due consideration.
