Everything You Need to Know About Criminal Law In India

Criminal law in India

In India, crime is an offense against the State. The law has given a massive status to crimes, so much so that punishments could range from fine to the death penalty. Crime is against the welfare of society, and therefore, there are many legislations against the same in our country. The prominent ones include the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Besides these significant acts, there are acts such as the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, the Narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances Act, 1985, etc.

The Three main legislations

The Indian Penal Code (IPC)

The Indian Penal Code is the official criminal code of India, which was drafted way back in 1860. It’s objective is to provide a general penal law for the country. It has 511 sections across 23 chapters, containing the list of crimes along with their definitions and punishments. The IPC has been amended several times and is now supplemented by other Acts. Its jurisdiction extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)

The Code of Criminal Procedure is the primary legislation on the procedure for the regulation of criminal law in India. The CrPC details the procedure for the investigation of the crime, presenting criminals before the court of law, collection of evidence, determination of guilt or innocence of the accused, imposition of penalties or punishments, etc. It further lays down the hierarchy of the courts competent to try criminal lawsuits. In descending order it is the High Court at the top followed by Sessions Court, First Class Judicial Magistrate, Second Class Judicial Magistrate and Executive Magistrate. There is a limit affixed for sentences which these courts can pass against the accused. The Supreme Court is the apex court, and it has the ultimate power. The code was enacted in 1973. At present, the CrPC contains 484 sections cut across 37 chapters. It also has two schedules and 56 forms.

The Indian Evidence Act

The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 contains a set of rules and allied issues which governs the admissibility of evidence in the law courts of India. It comprises 167 sections cut across 11 chapters. Types of evidence mentioned under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 includes – Oral evidence, documentary evidence, primary evidence, secondary evidence, real evidence, hearsay evidence, judicial evidence, non-judicial evidence, direct evidence, and indirect evidence or circumstantial evidence.

Some other criminal legislation

Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961

The Dowry Prohibition Act was enacted in the year 1961 with the main motive to criminalize the practice of dowry in India. It consolidated the anti-dowry laws which had been passed in certain states of India. If any person gives or takes or abets dowry, then according to Section 3 of the Act he is liable for imprisonment for a minimum period of 5 years and fine of more than INR 15,000 or the value of the dowry received, whichever is higher. The Act also provides for penalty for directly or indirectly demanding dowry which involves a prison term of 6 months or more which is extendable up to 2 years along with a fine of INR 10,000.

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015

This Act allows for juveniles within the age bracket of 16-18 who are in conflict with the law and are involved in heinous offenses, to be tried as adults, i.e. above the age of 18. The Act was enforced on 15 January 2016. The Act has put in place a Juvenile Justice Board, which includes psychologists and sociologists, to decide if a juvenile within the age bracket of 16 to 18 should be tried as an adult or not. The Act also aims to make the adoption process of the orphaned, abandoned and surrendered children more smooth. The Act introduced the foster care and Judicial Waiver System in India.

Narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances Act, 1986

Also, referred to as the NDPS Act, this Act came into being on 14 November 1985 and has been amended thrice till date. Until 1985, India had no legislation regarding narcotics. This Act attempts to prohibit production, manufacture, cultivation, possession, selling, purchasing transporting, storing and/or consumption of any narcotic or psychotropic substance in India.

Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986

The Act was enacted to prohibit indecent representation of women through ads, publications, writings, paintings, figures or any other such manner.

CONCLUSION

India has a very sophisticated criminal legal framework. It has innumerable legislations covering various crimes and their punishments. It also lists down how the cases must be dealt with, provisions on investigation and evidence can also be found. Besides, the case laws or judicial precedents also play a significant role when judges pronounce the judgment. The decision of the Supreme Court is final and binding on all the criminal and civil courts of India. There is a hierarchy among criminal courts as well. A robust criminal law framework is essential to deter the perpetrators from committing crimes and also makes justice easy, feasible and quick.

How to file a case on instances of sexual harassment at workplace

Sexual harassment in the workplace is one of the biggest problems which has started to increase as the corporate culture has begun to flourish. Anyone can be a harasser, and anyone can be a victim. It is insignificant as to who commits the offense. It could be a manager, co-worker, or even a non-employee like a client, contractor, or vendor. If the person’s conduct creates a hostile work environment or interrupts an employee’s success, is considered sexually harassing. An act which may amount to sexual harassment may vary from a sexually colored involuntary encounter with a senior employee of colleague, winking, whistling inappropriate touch or similar behavior. An act of a senior employee asking for a non-consented sexual favor from the junior employee, in lieu of promotion in the job, falls in the category of sexual harassment at the workplace.

To govern such actions and create a healthy working environment for women, Supreme Court of India, in the landmark case of Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan to fill the legislative vacuum laid down Vishaka Guidelines for the protection of women from sexual harassment at workplace. Later an act was passed by the legislature named, Protection of Women from Sexual harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

As per the rules governing sexual harassment at workplace, it is compulsory for all organizations with 10 or more workers to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) for registration of complaints relating to sexual harassment and take action against the guilty employer or employee. Constitution of ICC is a legal right, and in case the workplace is refusing to constitute the same, they can be legally penalized.

The constituted ICC can file a complaint against the incident of sexual harassment at your workplace. A complaint must constitute the following details.

1. Name of the person by whom the complaint is filed.
2. The date on which the incident of sexual harassment took place
3. The time when the incident happened
4. Description of the incident or inappropriate behavior
5. Name of the person accused of sexual harassment
6. Working relationship between the victim and accused.

The complaint with the details mentioned above must be filed within three months of sexual harassment incident, with full confidentiality and speedy process. This sexual harassment complaint can be filed by anyone irrespective of gender. Lodging of an internal complaint with the ICC does not cease the right of the victim to lodge a criminal complaint against the colleague or employer. Reply to the complaint must be filed by the accused within ten days. An inquiry has to be completed within 90 days. The final report generated thereof must be submitted to the Employer or District officer within ten days. The Employer or the District Office has to act on recommendations within 60 days. In addition to this, if the victim or accused is not satisfied with the recommendations of the ICC or LCC (Local Compliant Committee), a further appeal can be filed before a tribunal or a court.

In the case of  Apparel Export Promotion Council vs A.K. Chopra placed before the SC of India, Accused mentioned that the penalty on him was harsh and disproportionate to the charge leveled against him. It was concluded by the research that the accused had not actually molested the victim, but had only tried to assault her and had not made any physical contact with her. On this, the Staff Committee observed that no lenient view would be justified in a case of molestation of a woman employee when the charge was fully proved. Any sympathetic action in such a situation would have a demoralizing effect on working women. One of the judges from the bench, in this case, remarked that they would not wait for a girl to be raped and then the charges of sexual harassment could be logged. Hence the charges levied on the accused are reasonable and not disproportionate.

Apart from the complaint mechanism, the employer can take another recourse such as Criminal proceedings and Disciplinary action.

Know More:  Sexual Harassment at Workplace

Under Criminal proceedings, as per Vishakha Guidelines, when the conduct of accused amount to a specific offense under IPC or any other law, the employer shall initiate appropriate actions in accordance with the law. Attention must be paid to ensure that victim or witnesses are not victimized or discriminated against while dealing with the complaints of sexual harassment. Following are the specific provisions of Indian Penal Code, that can be applied in a sexual harassment case thereby making it a criminal complaint.

Section 294, talks about the obscene act in public place.

Section 354, embodies the provision when whosever assaults or uses criminal force on any women, intending to outrage her modesty.

Section 509 holds that whosoever intending to insult the modesty of women, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture or exhibits any object or intrudes upon the privacy of such women. The same shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

In addition to the aforementioned recourses, when such conduct amounts to misconduct in employment as defined by the relevant service rules, appropriate disciplinary action must be initiated by the employer in accordance with the rules.

A civil suit can be filed for damages under tort laws. That is, the basis for filing the case would be mental anguish, physical harassment, loss of income and employment caused by sexual harassment.

Hit and Run cases and legal consequences

Introduction To Hit and Run Cases

Hit and Run cases happen when the drivers while driving incur damage to any person’s life, health or property while rash driving and thereafter failing to register their vehicle and driving license with the concerned legal authorities. In layman’s terms, Hit and Run is hitting a person or property while driving and then fleeing. It becomes very hard to identify and punish the culprits because of lack of evidence and witnesses. However, there have been many instances when the law has convicted them.

Statutory Punishment of Hit and Run

Hit and run cases are not specifically punishable under Indian Penal Code (IPC) as such. Though, Sections 279, 304A, and 338 of the IPC are applicable in the Hit and Run Cases. Section 279 defines and punishes Rash Driving. There is a punishment of jail term extending up to 6 months and a thousand rupees fine under this section. Also, Section 304A punishes death by negligence. This section is directly applicable to Hit and Run cases which result in the victim’s death. The punishment under the Section is for up to 2 years. In cases where the victim hasn’t died but is grievously injured, the punishment is given in Section 338.[i]

The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 is applicable to the cases of Hit and Run too. Section 161 of the Act defines “hit and run” as “an accident arising out of the use of a motor vehicle or motor vehicles the identity whereof cannot be ascertained in spite of reasonable efforts for the purpose”. As can be observed by the official codified definition, a hit and run does not always pertain to murder or grievous hurt, but to accidents at large. Section 161 also provides for compensation to the victims of the hit and run; twenty-five thousand rupees in case of death and twelve thousand and five hundred rupees in case of grievous hurt.

Section 134(a) of the Act requires the driver to secure medical attention to the injured persons immediately. And section 134(b) requires them to give the information about and relevant to the same to a Police officer as soon as possible. Failing these two duties, the driver will be punishable.[ii]

Statistics of Hit and Run cases

More than 20000 people lost their lives in Hit and Run cases in India alone.[iii] Hit-and-run cases accounted for 11.4% of all accidents in 2015, an increase from 10.9% in 2014, according to road transport ministry data. In a survey, they found that about 74% of respondents expressed unwillingness to assist victims of road accidents. According to a study Impediments to Bystander Care in India conducted by SaveLIFE Foundation, advocacy working for road safety, and TNS India, a global marketing research company, on July 2013. The SaveLife-TNS study also points to another study by the Indian Journal of Surgery published in 2006. There, it was found that 80% of road accident victims do not receive any medical care within the first or golden hour after the accident.

Problems in Hit and Run cases

The biggest issue in the cases of Hit and Run is the absence of any direct evidence. Usually, there is no hard evidence to put the culprit at the crime scene. This makes it very difficult for the Police to pursue the investigation. Sometimes due to the speeding vehicles and a lot of rush, even witnesses aren’t able to help with the investigation. Also, the witnesses often don’t want to be entangled in the legal framework. The Police have to rely on indirect pieces of evidence in such cases. The investigation requires very precise and careful monitoring of the crime scene.

The witnesses of the accident are also unwilling and reluctant to help the victims. This causes a lot of loss of life. In 2013, the Apex Court directed the Government to make laws for the protection of the Good Samaritans. However, even after these laws are made, they are available mostly on paper. In some states like Karnataka however, these laws hold much importance.[iv]

Conclusion

Hit and Run cases have come to the knowledge of most of the Indians after the infamous Salman Khan case in 2002. He was accused of driving his car onto the Footpath into a group of homeless people. One of them had died. There have been many high profile cases of Hit and Run over the years. And, many which couldn’t get as much attention.

The usual reason found behind these instances is Rash driving, On-road racing and Drink and drive. The victims, either injured or dead are left to suffer while the culprits run free. Even the compensation given to the victim is too low as termed by the Apex Court. A bill is pending in the Parliament to increase the same from 25000 rupees to 2 lakhs.

[i] Indian Penal Code 1860.

[ii] Motor Vehicles Act 1988.

[iii] Rahul Mohan  Sharma, ‘There were 7 Hit and Run cases every hour in 2015’ (Scroll.in, 5 August 2016) <https://scroll.in/article/813185/there-were-7-hit-and-run-cases-every-hour-in-india-in-2015> acessed 12 January 2019.

[iv] Karnataka Good Samaritan and Medical Professional (Protection and Regulation during Emergency Situations) Act.

Procedure after FIR is lodged and FIR cancellation procedure

Introduction

The first information report is a written report prepared by the police department of the respective police station where the crime  (Cognizable offense) has occurred. This is an essential practice which gives a kickstart to a criminal proceeding in a court. It is prevalent in countries like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, etc. An FIR is generally logged by the victim of a cognizable offense. However, in the cases where the victim is deceased or is in such a condition as unable to lodge an FIR, someone on his behalf can also lodge an FIR either orally or in writing to the police. FIR is defined under Section 154 of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.   As the name itself suggests, An Fir must contain all the information which the victim is possessing about the cognizable offense. Also, Fir must be read to the person giving information or lodging complaint to the police and must contain his signature. This prevents cases of fraud FIRs lodged by the police officials if the complainant is illiterate.

After lodging an FIR

Once the FIR is lodged, the police can start the investigation work. The investigation includes collecting evidence, questioning witnesses, inspecting the crime scene, forensic testing, recording statements of the witnesses. It is always said that, after experiencing a cognizable offense, the first thing a victim should do, is to lodge an FIR. The reason for the same is attributed to the fact that, if there will be a considerable amount of time duration between the commission of a crime and lodging an FIR, this will give an opportunity to the offender to manipulate the shreds of evidence, eye-witness or any such material which can turn the judgment of the bench. For example, in rape cases, certain medical tests are to be conducted within a span of 2 days. Otherwise, there will be no evidence left in the victim’s body.

Once the stage of investigation is completed, the police may form a Charge Sheet often called as Challan and record their findings in it. If it is deemed that there is enough proof in the charge sheet, the case reaches the court.

Also, if after the completion of the investigation, the police concludes that there is not enough evidence, so as to establish the crime, they may close the case. Reason for closing the case must be backed by a rational in the competent court of jurisdiction.

When authorities refuse to lodge an FIR

Remember, that no police station can deny for lodging an FIR and they have to do this free of cost.

1. You can contact Superintendent of Police or any other high officials and bring to their notice the complaint filed by you.
2. You can contact such high officials by sending the complaint to them in writing. If they are satisfied by your complaint, they may order for the investigation of the case of may investigate the case himself.
3. A private complaint can be lodged in the court of competent jurisdiction.
4. You approach the authorities such as the State Human Rights Commission or the National Human Rights Commission.

Filing a Criminal Complaint accompanied by Vakalatnama and Court Fees

This is a petition which is submitted by the complainant authorizing an advocate to plead the case. This contains written allegations of the complainant, the summary of the happening of offense and the complaint prays for the relief he seeks for the same.

Criminal Complaint must be accompanied by a Vakalatnama. It gives the advocate (Who will be representing you in the court) the authorization to fight for justice, appear on his behalf, and handle all the court procedure. The lawyer who has signed the Vakalatnama is bonded by all the duties of an advocate, such as Attorney-Client Privilege. All such terms and conditions are explicitly mentioned in Vakalatnama.

Plaints are also required to be accompanied by court fees to be paid to the court. The amount of court fees is governed by the rules an regulations embodied in the Court Fees Stamp Act. Court fees are usually a nominal percentage to the suit value, and it differs from case to case.

Cancellation of FIR

Once the Fir is registered, FIR cannot be canceled. Even when the complainants urge for the same. It can be disposed of only as per the manner prescribed under the Criminal Procedure Code.

FIR is disposed of in the following circumstances-

1. When the Offender cannot be traced even after making all possible efforts, and there are no changes for finding him in the future.
2. When the Complainant has registered a false complaint.
3. The accused person dies before filing the charge sheet against him in the court.
4. When the complaint withdraws the case or requests the court to refer the case to Lok Adalat/ National Lok Adalat. So that the case can have a lead towards settlement.

In addition to the aforementioned circumstances, the government has the power to withdraw prosecution of a criminal case against him in the court. This power is conferred under Section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Conclusion

All citizens should get to know about their rights to filing FIRs. At the same time, they must be aware of the steps that they can take if the police refuse to register their complaints. In some cases, it is best to file a complaint petition before the judicial magistrate instead of registering an FIR.