Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws

Chairperson’s Message

“

A hallmark of any civilised society lay in the maturity and the erudition of its Criminal Justice System. Criminal Law like every other law has to meet the pace at which society is evolving. The deviant minds, whom Criminal Law seeks to apprehend and bring to justice have also become sophisticated and nuanced in their modus operandi’s, the 21st Century ‘criminal mind’ is far more multi-dimensional than what perhaps Macaulay’s Code could envision and account for. It is this fundamental reality which brings to the forefront the challenging responsibilities vested in the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws.

Member & Convenor’s Message

“

In proposing the Indian Penal Code, Macaulay intended to bring about some semblance of certainty to the criminal justice system. “The principle is simply this”, Macaulay remarked, “uniformity when you can have it; diversity when you must have it; but, in all cases certainty.” After over a century and a half of its operation, the certainty that the code brought along with it has given way to ambiguity. Further, even though we supplanted the colonial criminal procedure with our own in 1973, we are still faced with multiple problems, including but not limited to – pendency of cases; inconsistencies and inefficiencies in procedure pertaining to arrest, bail, investigation and trial; arbitrariness in police and prosecutorial actions; equation of victims to witnesses, etc. Our Laws of Evidence too require an urgent remodelling to suit the needs of modernisation.