CRIMINAL LAW AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE DELAY IN TRIAL

The author of this blog is Nikhil Pawar, student of 3rd  year BA LLB (Hons), SGT UNIVERSITY, GURUGRAM

 

Our criminal system follows that no innocent should be wrongly punished because of the court’s decision. There is a saying or term “justice delayed is justice denied” which means that victims of crime and those who are accused of crime deserve speedy trial and quick resolution. In the Indian Judicial System Average case, pendency is approximately five years which is a very long period. There are so many reasons for the slow proceedings of the trial in Indian courts.

The delay incurred in the disposing of pending cases in the courts is one of the leading problems of the administration at the moment, even though it has been for a long time. In some instances, it has been observed that the accused of many petty cases spend their time in jail and sometimes not even presented before the court at all and these petty cases take so much time that the accused spends more than the required time in the jail until either he is proven guilty or innocent, either way, the time spent in jail is unreasonable. The statistics of delayed disposal of cases has reached so high in India that now justice delayed is not only justice denied, it is justice circumvented, justice mocked, and the system of justice undermined. 

 

Witness unwillingness to give an appearance before the court is also one of the reasons behind the slow trials.  the witnesses are reluctant to appear before the court and give testimony either because of fear of avoiding any hassle in their daily life. There is no provision present for the witness to safely reach the court. This is not the only reason, sometimes when the witnesses are subjected to the questions, they feel harassed or the questions are too harsh for them, and even argot.

 

The biggest reason behind the delay in trial is the number of cases of caseload on the courts. There is a shortage of judges in the courts. In the year 2020, the number of judges per 1,00,000 population in India was over 1.4 only. in the last few decades, there has been a constant increase in the number of cases but the appointment of judges is not proportionate to the matter, especially at the underlying level and delays in the trials are one of the consequences of the lack of appointment of adequate judges. One of the most important explanations for the delay in disposal of cases is that in practicality it is common in Indian courts to adjourn cases without an accountable reason, it can either for the personal benefit of the parties or the counsel which is not at all a right decision.

 

Framing of charges can delay the trial as well. An allegation is a straightforward document that the accused must respond to in court. The accused cannot be held responsible for what he has not been found guilty of, yet he must reply. The objective of an indictment is to provide the accused with a realistic understanding of what he is being tried for and the basic conditions that he must obey, rather than to impose a clause that goes to the heart of jurisdiction. This stage should generally take no more than a few minutes. However, substantial time is spent at this stage drafting the allegation against the accused. Charges cannot be filed unless all of the defendants are present on the day the charge is filed. The accused sees this as an opportunity to avoid the case by not being present on the day the charges are fixed, which they can do in a variety of ways, such as by claiming bogus medical certificates or requesting an adjournment.

Charge sheets are frequently delayed by the police. Charge sheets are occasionally returned for correction. Because there are just a few forensic labs, forensic reports are also delayed. More labs with cyber forensics, DNA testing, handwriting comparison, and other capabilities should be established. Every municipality should have at least one.

It affects the victim as well as the accused. Criminal delay has a negative impact on both the victim's rights (and creates future disincentives for filing or prosecuting cases) and the accused's rights (who may be in prison or have restricted his freedom and freedom of movement, or at least live in fear of a possible conviction). In a criminal trial, there are two types of delays that must be addressed. The first, as stated above, is concerned with the length of time it takes to complete a trial and reach a decision. The second element, which is tied to pendency, is the impact of delay on under-testing. Criminal law is still based on the presumption of innocence, which means that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The status of a criminal trial, on the other hand, has a significant impact on an accused person's freedom and presumption of innocence, especially if they are imprisoned pending trial.

There is a link between the number of detainees awaiting trial and the length of time it takes for them to be released. According to reports, 60 percent of police arrests in India are "unnecessary or unwarranted." In this scenario, inexorable delays in the judicial process have resulted in the continuing imprisonment of suspects awaiting trial. This is problematic because the lengthy incarceration of a person guilty of a crime obstructs the successful aid of their counsel and may have an impact on the defence presented at trial. In practice, lawyers often find it difficult and time-consuming to travel to far-flung jails to meet with their clients, especially when providing legal aid.

In the end, I would like to say that Nearly 60 lakh criminal cases have been pending in the country for more than five years, necessitating a fresh look at the legislation in order to provide prompt justice to victims and preserve the rights of the guilty. The police, the forensics wing, the prosecution, the courts, and the laws all needed reform for the trials to pick up the pace and for quick justice.