Constitutional Protections in Criminal Offences
The author of this blog is Pulkit Khanduja Second year, B.A.LLB student at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU)
Any
person living in any part of the world has rights which are guaranteed by the
Constitution which they can exercise at any point in time. The laws are made in
consonance with the provisions of the Constitution and laws which are discriminatory
or in contravention to the constitution can be struck down by the Apex Court at
any point in time.Though
it is known that the Constitution is borrowed, the same is evident from certain
provisions of the constitution and had been construed in such manner that it
fits all the sections of societies and the main feature about our constitution
is its Fundamental Rights.
In
India Constitution is regarded as the Parent Guide for all the laws and all the
laws which are made they are carved out of it. and made in accordance or
reference with those laws as they are required to be used in the long run our
Constitution is widely related to Democracy and Rule of Law and the Rule of Law
is the basic rule of any policy and giving free and fair trial is an integral
part of it wherein every person is given equal treatment and chances to prove
himself/herself or speak for their own good.It
can be correctly said that the Constitution of India through its provisions
have taken the best care of the interests of its citizens who are residing in India.
The people who are accused have been provided with the safeguards which are
enshrined in our constitution and therefore, in order to prove the person
guilty the party has to prove the guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Under Constitutional Law
The person committing a crime or being involved in the crime should not be a judge in
its own case and the Court must act on its own
and should hear both the sides then give its judgment.- no person can be a
judge in his/her own as it would lead to giving the judgment in their own
favor which would lead to discrimination with the other person. Whichever judge gets the case should give the judgment
according to what they feel and should not be forced; they should not be forced
to make any decision.
Both
sides shall be heard, or audi alteram partem- both the parties should be
heard then judgment should be given because it would be unfair if the only side
is heard and a decision it given as it would lead to the violation of rights
which a person has.
The notice should be sent to both the parties in due course of time before the
proceeding beings- both the parties who are involved should be given a notice
of the proceeding before a reasonable period of time as there should be no
conflict regarding the time or for the parties to prepare themselves etc.
Right
to get a Speedy Trial- the person accused
should be immediately be taken to the nearest magistrate and the trial should
begin, despite these laws, still, the process is slow and the people who are
falsely charged suffer inside the jail because of the late Dates which are
provided to them which leads to another party to be free knowing that this process would take time and making the life of the other party miserable.
Right
to accused of privacy and protection against unlawful searches:
The force or authorities can't harm the privacy of the accused on an
insignificant supposition for an offense. As indicated by right of charged in
India, his/her property can't be looked at by the police without a court request.
Bail
as the rights of accused in India: The accused can
file bail application to be released from remand under the provision laid down
in the Code of Criminal procedure under section 439.
Right
to be present during the trial: According to section
273, all the recording must take place before the Lawyer or the Accused.
Right
to Humane Treatment in Prison: The person has the authority
to get all his freedom when in jail such as to call for his lawyer etc.
If
the accused it declared to be innocent he or she should be given the copy of
judgment and if the person has a risk to his/her life after the trial should be
provided with protection if required.
Article
14, Article 20, Article 21 and Article 22, Article 39A can also be used by the
Accused.
Article
14 Equality before the law- as we know that Social Justice is one of the
sub-divisional concepts of Justice takes into consideration the benefits and
burdens from the whole of the society as it is a result of the social
institutions. Equal Protection means the right to be treated equally in similar
situation regardless of privileges or liabilities involved, no discrimination
between people dealing with the subject matter.Giving
more Light upon this, the concept of fairness in Article 14 it is said that the
Court would not only remove the law which is unreasonable but would even uphold
the law which would make protective discrimination as it would favor the
SC’s and ST’s to make them come in the mainstream.
Article
20 Protection in respect of conviction of offenses-
nobody has the power to arrest anyone till the time any crime has been done by
that person, he/she would not be punished twice for the same crime and them
won’t be forced to become Witness against themselves.
Article
21 Protection of Life and Liberty- no citizen can
be deprived of his or her rights till the time any rule has been established by
law. This article takes into consideration that no citizen residing in India is
deprived of his/her rights and this right include that people should live with
dignity.
If
any person is found to be deprived of his/her rights a procedural law has been
made which would look into it.
Article
22: Protection against Arrest and Detention in Certain Cases:
no citizen can be arrested or taken away by any force or authority without
being told the reasons of the arrest and cannot be stopped in consulting any
legal help, the arrested person should be taken to the nearest magistrate within
24 hours of the arrest, no law can authorize the detention of 3 months unless
and until the said by the Members of the Board
Article
39A Right to Legal Aid: the state shall provide
justice on the basis of opportunities and shall provide free help if needed to
the people in help for securing justice and not be denied because of any
reasons.
Cases
In,
Nandini Sathpathy v. P.L.Dani [i]
In
this case the Court observed that nobody can coercively proclamation
information from the charged person and that it is the person option either to
speak to keep quiet throughout cross-examination.
In,
D.K. Basu v. State of W.B [ii]
In
this case the judges laid down few rules which would be now taken into
consideration by the Capturing In-charge
and that they should bear precise, obvious, and clear recognizable proof
alongside their formal IDs with their post, the update should be signed by the
arrestee and relative, the family or the companion must be told about the capture of the denounced, The arrestee might be allowed to meet his legal counselor
during cross-examination, however not all through the cross-examination and
numerous others.
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