ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Introduction
India is the World’s largest democracy. But unfortunately, over the period of the time its glow is decreasing because of defective criminal justice system. Therefore, we are in that period of time, there is need to again reconstruct and reformulate the justice system to address the challenges of the present day. Because of strong spur in demand of justice. There are some loop holes which makes the development of various techniques & strategies that can be effectively incorporate into the policy framework. Therefore, to study the criminal system better it is worth examine the object of the criminal justice system.
MOTO OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
The object of the criminal justice system is to provide public justice, to punish the criminal and to see that the trial is concluded speedy before the memory of the witness fades out. The criminal trial is not just only doing the justice with the accused but also with the victim and society. So,from it law and order is maintained. A judge does not preside over a criminal trial is to see that no innocent man is punished, but also to see that the guilty man does not escape. Both are the duties of judge is that to provide equal justice.
Hence, the courts perform his duty to try to maintain the public faith of the people in administration of the justice by making the concept of the human rights in administration of the justice.
BASIC NEED TO REFORM IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
In today’s era, Change is constant but even in that changing phase of the society “criminal justice system” of India is yet to improve and to slow also. These all are the reason of the lack of
accountability, ineffective enforcement of the law, and delay in disposal of the cases, lack of
trained police, an overburdened court system and Poor prison conditions. The main are the
significant problems in the criminal justice system. In India, the administration of criminal
justice system follows the Anglo Saxon- adversarial pattern it has three vital units, commanly
a) Police
b) Judiciary
c) Prison

COMPONENTS OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: PRESENT SCENARIO

I. POLICE

Police, being a first segment of the criminal justice system, have a very
Important role in administration of the justice. Therefore, for understanding the criminal justice
system is to begining of understanding the police. Under Article 246 The Constitution of India
places the police, public order, courts, prisons, reformatories, and other allied institutions in the
State List.3. Now the next visible question towards is, that how to make answerable to police?
Which is essential part of the Indian Criminal Justice system? Is following section of this article we
Will conclude this problem.
Accountability of police

Indian police Act of 1861, is outdated law which, made in regime of the
colonial system with the aim is to detain the people. Unluckily, instead of the
regular demand of The National Police Commission, Indian government is not ready to do any change in this colonial law. Further, in the Police Act, 1861 there is not any such provision of the accountability of the police distinct in the UK, in which the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) having a duty to supervises and investigates public complaints against the police and can take over the supervision or investigation of any complaints case4. Whereas in Indian Police Act, is lacking in this aspect. It can be clearly evident from the issues involving the ferocity of the police which come before the court some are as follow:
Central Bureau of investigation v. Kishore singh and others5
In instant case Hon’ble Justice Markandey Katju stated that, what should be done to
policemen who “Bobbitt” a person in police station and think that they can get away it? That is
the question decided in the case. Court held that in our opinion, policeman who commit
criminal act deserve harsher punishment that other person who commit such act, because it is
duty of the policemen to protect the people, and not break the law themselves. If the protector
becomes the predator civilized society will cease to exist. As the Bible says, “If the salt has
lost its flavor, wherewith shall it be salted?”Or as the ancient Roman used to say “who will
guard the praetorian guards?”
Hence, the police are supposed to protect the people and uphold the law, but if they themselves
become criminals, then it’s a difficult task to ensure the protection of the human rights.
Mehboob Batcha and others v. state represented by superintendent of police Judges
Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra .
In instant case Supreme Court held that, as murder by policemen in police custody is rarest of
rare case. They deserve for death penalty and we give a warning to all country that this will not
be tolerated. Further, court upheld that custodial violence in police custody is in violation of
this court’s directive issued in D. K. Basu v. State of WB,
A.S. Mohammed Rafi v. state of the Tamilnadu 7
In instant case court granted 1.5 lakhs compensation to the victim for police custodial death.
However, apart from the above cases, one of the most engrossing and passionately debate is the
illegal and arbitrary arrest by police person. Therefore, it is, important to document, study and
analyse some case laws in this regard.

Judiciary view on Arbitrary arrest and illegal detention
The power of the police to arrest is also often very badly abused. This can be further studied by
following cases.
There are lots of the cases where Apex Court directed various guide lines regarding the
arrest for example in D.K Basu v. State of West Bengal8 in instant case court smoothen the
procedure relating to the arrest. Court reiterated in this case that, protection from arbitrary
arrest is flow from Article 21 and 22 (1) of the constitution and are to be enforced in a strict manner .
The Supreme Court in Joginder Kumar v. State of the U.P.9 has put clear cut restrictions on the powers of police to make arbitrary arrests. The above cases are really, a paltform of breaking judgments. Therefore, it is high time to look into the power of the President provided in Art. 372 (2)10 of the India Constitution. Which provides the President to amend the law in compliance with the Constitution?

II JUDICIARY

The judiciary has a very important role in implementation of rule of law. The primary
Duty of judiciary is to protect as well as to enforce them also and provide the relief to the victim. Such duty and obligation is mandatory for a democratic Country. The present criminal justice system in Indians courts is basically to give more attention to the accused and try to protect all his/her rights i.e boldness of the innocence, legal right against arrest, and double Jeopardy etc. no doubt accused are entitled of all these rights but now in changing situation, it is also expected from the courts focus upon the Victim as well as witness.
Role of the court during the criminal proceeding: Ensuring the kind condition of the
investigation
Here the relevant question is that, what should be the role of court in recreation of the
criminal justice system? Because we already discussed that, it is the Judiciary which has a important role in implementation of rule of law. Further, it is notable that, there are some legal provisions in legislation itself, the proper discern of which can bring the rememberable change in the area of the criminal Justice system. The analysis of such provisions dealt in the following section of the article.

1. Restrictions on the power of the arrest
The criminal Procedure Code, 1908 confers very fairly excluded powers of the arrest mainly to the
police in various Sections i.e Sec. 41, 42, and 151 of the code. There are a lot of the
instances, which reflects how the police officers are misusing this power? Therefore, the
concept of the arrest procedure must be followed from Art. 21 and 22 of the Constitution of India.
Hence, it is the duty of the magistrate to make satisfy himself in all the requirements of the arrest has been fulfilled. A new Section 436-A of the Cr.P.C. which deals with the “Maximum period for
which an under trial prisoner can be detained”. The purpose of this Section is to make sure the
human rights of the arrested person. Now it is up to on judiciary for full discern of this
right. Moreover, the court should consider the Section 310 of the Cr.P.C. this runs as
follow:
“Any Judge or Magistrate may, at any stage of any inquiry, trial or other proceeding, after
due notice to the parties, visit and inspect any place in which an offence is alleged to have
been committed,………. Inspection”
Therefore, it is clearly evident from the above Section that magistrate has an limited amount of
power for proper realization of human rights at any stage of any inquiry.

2. Limitation on the adjournment of the cases
This is also one of the major factors of having delay in disposal of the cases. However, there is express prohibition on adjournment more than three times (Order XVII, Rule1 of the Civil procedure code, 1908), but still in practice there is no serious concern about it. Therefore, all the Courts should keep in mind all this provision to ensure the early disposal of the cases.
3. Judge should be sensitize:
There is need that Judges should take a more active role in the administration of the justice.
They can use their discretion in the process where they found necessary in interest of the
justice. There are some judges who disqualify themselves from advancing the criminal justice
system because they have old fashioned attitude. The old fashioned judge looked to the letter
of the statute and their believe is that, justice can only be done according to strict interpretation
of the law. That is why judges should look out through the window in order to see the effects of
their judgment on the ordinary men and women. Therefore, justice does not reside in the
judge’s intellect only. It also resides in his heart. It is the combination of the heart and the brain
that result in justice.11 Therefore now a day’s criminal justice reform is a matter of the serious
concern, and for effective enforcement of it activeness of judges is very much required.
4. Due care and causation in case of the bail application and remand order
At the outset there is not any hard and fast rules regarding the grating and rejecting the bail. Each case should be decided in the light of their own facts. But it should be decide for judicious exercise of the discretion of the courts. In Cr.P.C Section 436 provides the law relating to bailable offences. Similarly, Sec. 437 dealing with non-bailable offences. Now it is the duty of
the courts and a total discretion to take care of due caution and care while granting and denying the bail.
5. Power to grant the Remand
Under Section 167 of the Cr.P.C. Magistrate is empower to grant the remand either in police or
Judicial custody, for a period not exceeding fifteen days at a time (in case of police custody,
only for initial fifteen days). Judicial authorization of restraint amounts to decrease of
personal liberty and, therefore, due caution should be exercised while authorizing detention of
an accused in police or judicial custody on production of the accused. Therefore, it is mandatory for the magistrate to examine the case diary as well as all the material fact before granting the
order.
Case Study:
 Joginder Kumar v State of the UP12
There are some guidelines laid down by the courts:
• An arrested person being held in custody is entitled, if he so requests to have one
friend relative or other person who is known to him or likely to take an interest in his
welfare , told as far as is practicable that he has been arrested and where is being
detained.
• The police officer shall inform the arrested person when he is brought to the police
station.
• The entry should be requiring to be made in the diary as to who was informed of the
arrest. This protection from power must be held to flow from Art 21 and 22 of the Indian Constitution.
 Nahar Sing Yadav and another v. Union of India and others. In instant case court
held that “a true and fair trial is sine qua non of Article 21 of the constitution.
Therefore, it can be clearly documented from this case, that court should take care and
caution at every step of the administration of the justice.
III. PRISON
Violation of the right’s of the prisoners:
The condition of the prisoners remained disgraceful in the India. The law enforcement staff were responsible for widespread violation of the human rights in including the arbitrary need of the life in alleged encounters, deaths in custody and indiscriminate use of the firearms. According to the national crime records Bureau of the Government of the India, eight persons died in the custody and 42 civilian died in police firing during 2005. Besides, at least 87 persons were killed in alleged encounters between January and March 2005 alone, while the figure stood at 238 in 2004 and 214 in 2003.14 Therefore, it is said to be the duty of all Courts to make regular visit as well as the surprise visit of the prison to ensure the human condition of the prisoners.
SUGGESTIONS:
There are some suggestions which are very essential to ensure the criminal Justice Reform i.e.
1. There is need of periodically visit and inspection of Courts.
2. At present there are a lot of cases pending in the courts and unfortunately, there is no proper data in this regard and moreover, Supreme Court and High Courts do not publish any annual administration report in reference to the pendency of the cases and all such details regarding the cases.
3. Now the another missing part is sanction of the government (Sec.197) before prosecuting the public servant in Section 166 of the I.P.C. it creates a great impendiment in exercise of the power under section 166 of the Indian penal code. Therefore, its need to be withdrawn. Even National police Commission 1979-1981 in its 8th Report recommend the withdrawal of Sec. 132, 197 of the Cr.P.C.
4. It is the parody that most of the law existing today are outdated, it is seen that the punishment prescribed under the laws are as nominal and paltry as not to have any impact on the crime situation. The Police Act, 1861is example of this.
5. The cases must be assigned according to the specialization of person. It also recommended by the Malimath Committee (24th November 2000) that allotting cases without considering specialization result in delay in decision of the cases.
6. There is need to worse the political influence because, the Police Act, 1861 bestow the superintendence of the police directly in the hands of the political executive i.e the state government. At the present time, the Head of Police (Director General/ Inspector General) enjoys her/his tenure at the pleasure of the Chief Minister. he/she may be removed from the post at any time without assigning any reasons. Such a state of affairs has resulted in wide-spread politicization of the police and if this happens then we cannot say this is proper democracy.
So last but not least in the light of human Rights jurisprudence some innovative revision
and amendment is needed and some provisons also be brought to make it better and makes our country better.

– Author -Mukul

– Co Author -Chanchal

-College -Geeta Institute of Law, Panipat

– Class – BA.LL.B (5.3)