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- By Parinda News Bureau, February 22, 2006, 09:35 IST
New Delhi: The Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 2005 has come into effect. The legislation was approved by Parliament in its last session and the President signed it subsequently. The Act has since been notified in the Gazette of India as Act No. 2 of 2006.
The Act is intended to prevent the evil of witnesses turning hostile. Hence, sections 161, 162 and 344 have been amended by inserting new sections 164A and 344A in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 provide that statement made to the Police by any person during investigation, if given in writing, is to be signed and quickly transmitted to the Magistrate. In all offences punishable with death or imprisonment for 7 years or more during investigation, the witness has to record his statement before a Magistrate. The statement of the witness duly recorded before a Magistrate under oath would be treated as evidence at the court's discretion. There would be summary trial for perjury with provisions for enhanced punishment.
Disposal of criminal trials in the courts takes a long time and in many cases trials do not begin for as long as 3 to 5 years after the accused was sent to judicial custody. In many cases persons accused of criminal offences are unable to secure bail for different reasons and have to languish in jail as under-trial prisoners for years. The act incorporates the concept of plea bargaining as recommended by the Law Commission of India in its 154th Report on the Code of Criminal Procedure. This means pre-trial negotiations between defendant and prosecution during which the accused agrees to plead guilty in lieu of certain concessions by the prosecutor. The benefit of plea bargaining would, however, not be admissible to habitual offenders.
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