Madras HC Sets New Guidelines for Plea Bargaining, Excludes Only Gender-Based Offences
Last Updated on August 21, 2024 by Amit Patra
The Madras High Court has given a ruling regarding the exclusion of ‘offences against women’ in plea bargaining wherein it has ruled that the exclusion is limited to gender related offences only and not other offences which are committed against women.
This clarification was in a case where the accused by the name Venkateshan was charged with an offence of hurting and wrongful confinement of a female junior bailiff. Originally, Venkateshan had sought the plea bargaining option but the trial court rejected the same.
The Honourable Justice G. Jayachandran emphasised that one has to be very cautious, noting that these are criminal matters involving harassment, offences of sexual nature, marriage related issues which are either gender-centric or gender neutral and therefore cannot be disposed through plea bargaining. Nonetheless, common crimes that do not fall within the broad rubric of crimes of gender, even those committed against women, are not excluded from this choice.
The court also gave directions to trial court concerning the plea bargaining cases. These include notifying the accused of his/her right to plea bargaining from the time charges are framed, insisting on the involvement of legal service authorities to assist with the process and ensuring that the accused’s decision is taken freely without undue influence.
Most importantly, the court insisted that when it comes to plea bargaining, the sentence may not necessarily be a prison term. If the law specifies that there should be a specific measure of punishment, this can be cut short at being half of that. In other circumstances, the court can pass a relatively mild judgment, including imprisonment for the duration of the current term or a quarter of the time usually served.
This ruling therefore tries to protect the rights of the accused equally as well as protect the vulnerable victims particularly women. Thus, through the differentiation between gender-related and other offences, the court makes certain that the exclusion of “offences against women” from plea bargaining is not unjust.
Case Law: Mr G Venkateshan vs The State, Crl. O.P.No.14485 of 2024
