Wrongful Prosecution

Context: Need of law to compensate those implicated in false cases

Wrongful Prosecution

• It refers to the cases where the accused was not guilty of the offence, and the police and/or prosecution engaged in some form of misconduct in investigating and/or prosecuting the person.

Key Points

• India has no effective statutory/legal Mechanism for wrongful prosecutions due to police and prosecutorial misconduct which has resulted in a pandemic of false cases.
• It has not only destroyed the social fabric of the nation but also affected the over-burdened judiciary with alarming pendency of over 40 million cases.

Reasons why a person should be compensated?

• Physical discomfort of being in jail because of wrongful prosecution
• A case in India ordinarily takes six to eight years to conclude meanwhile the accused has to undergo financial, social and emotional burden of being involved in a crime, which was falsely accused of or maliciously prosecuted
• Social stigma and mental trauma that not only a person, but also their family and children undergo

Judicial Pronouncement About Wrongful Prosecution:

• Earlier in May, 2017 the Delhi High Court in the case of Babloo Chauhan vs. State Govt. of NCT of Delhi, expressed grave concern about the state of innocent persons being wrongfully prosecuted.
• In scientist Nambi Narayanan’s case (he was acquitted 24 years after Kerala police arrested him in a fabricated spy case), the Supreme Court gave him ₹50 lakh as compensation (in 2018).

What needs to be done?

• Implementing the recommendations of the Law Commission of India – 277th Report – Recommended amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), to give compensation in cases of miscarriage of justice resulting in wrongful prosecution of persons.
• Steps in moderation – more professional scrutiny by the senior officers of enforcement agencies like advising the overenthusiastic officers on the professional lines of investigation; the prosecutors, as they are neither with the police nor with the investigating agencies, can point out to the enforcement agencies that they are wrong; that their case is not strong, so they should not ask for custody.
• Set a standard which can be laid down by legislation for determining compensation

Source: The Hindu