Attorney General for India Calls for a New Framework for Plea Bargaining at Seminar on Delivering Justice In Time

VMPL
New Delhi [India], March 16: Mr. R. Venkataramani, Attorney General for India, called for a new framework for plea bargaining based on social, cultural, economic theories and practices at the inaugural session of the seminar on "Delivering Justice in Time: Global Practices and Indian Experiences", jointly organised by O.P. Jindal Global University and the National Law University Delhi.
"Plea bargaining is becoming universal. There's a new need for a national protocol for plea bargaining, a national protocol which can be evolved and which can, in a very healthy way, advise, guide and counsel practitioners as well as victims of justice, so that the protocol can work in a more transparent and objective way. The legal and civil authority should be prepared to play important roles. The Chief Justice of India has consented to have a strong internal discussion on it. Existing legal mechanisms will also be made ready to look with a new lens and that there is concession for the defense and the resource management for the state. The resource management for the state is not only relevant for the plea bargaining aspect. It is resource value for the state, essentially, like an economic principle which should run through the entire administration of justice. This is why I have been thinking about a National Institute for Criminal Justice Administration which will also have an everyday index where we watch the measurement and performance. Those who practice in the trial court will find out how painful it is for people to simply waste their resources for governments, institutions, people, lawyers and judges as well as time!" he said.
"A Legal Health Index is important for our country. The Legal Health Index will probably identify factors which will include preventative and predictable procedures, the ease of justice, what roles each one of us can play and what kind of resources' investment that we require. Therefore, a Legal Health Index should be properly conceived, identified and then operationalized. And who should do that? I do not think it needs to be necessarily in the hands of governance institutions but it is a role for law schools and universities in conceiving and maintaining the Legal Health Index. It's important also for the community to get intellectually involved and to give a different point of view," the Attorney General added.

In his Keynote Address, Dr. Abhishek M. Singhvi, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India & Member of Parliament, spoke about the large pendency of cases in India. "It is the paradox of India's legal system, capable of producing some of the world's most sophisticated jurisprudence, while simultaneously struggling with a massive backlog of cases. We need to deal with the 'ABCD'--the access, backlog, cost and delay issues, and the obvious step is to appoint court judges. We need to fill judicial vacancies, adopt multi-track case management systems, resolve very old cases through dedicated mechanisms, strengthen mediation and revive Gram Nyayalayas, and improve coordination across courts, police and prisons. We need a synergy and focus to deal with the high number of pending cases which is also holistic. We need a curative and preventive approach and unconventional in a bold, new methodology to address the issue. The other extreme, which is a big failure, is arbitration. Arbitration has become pre-litigation litigation which is just adding one more separate limb to the process but the reality is that there are not enough trained mediators and this needs to be addressed on a war footing. There is also the issue of human infrastructure. The criminal law justice system includes the criminal hearing judge, the police and the prison staff and all these have to be synergically coordinated." He also called for reconsidering the retirement age disparity between High Courts and the Supreme Court and emphasized long-term consistency in reform implementation.
In his Welcome Address, Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University, emphasized that the rule of law depends not only on constitutional design or legal doctrine but on the ability of institutions to deliver justice in a timely, fair and effective manner. "I highlight India's pendency crisis--with over 5 crore pending cases--where there is a need for systemic reforms and I propose five pillars for transforming justice delivery: These include: strengthening judicial capacity; procedural reform and active case management; technology and artificial intelligence in courts; expansion of plea bargaining and pre-trial mechanisms; and data-driven justice governance." Dr. Raj Kumar lauded the collaboration between National Law University Delhi, Jindal Global Law School, and O.P. Jindal Global University. He expressed the intention to expand the seminar into a nationwide series of discussions across multiple cities and states with the aim of building collective consciousness and momentum around the urgent need for timely and effective justice delivery in India.
A message was also conveyed from the Hon'ble Minister of State for Law and Justice, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, who was unable to attend due to official responsibilities, along with his keen interest in the outcomes of the seminar. It was noted that a comprehensive report of the deliberations would be shared with him for possible follow-up discussions.
Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai, Vice Chancellor, National Law University Delhi, reflected on the deeper meaning of the seminar's theme: "Justice in Time." He cautioned that speed alone does not equal justice. True legitimacy in the justice system, he noted, depends on fairness, transparency and procedural integrity. He called for an empirical evaluation of the timelines introduced in India's new criminal laws and emphasized the need to strengthen victim justice frameworks, continuous legal aid from early stages, and a coherent national sentencing policy.
The event led to a day-long seminar with several sessions which included: Institutional & Procedural Reforms: Improving Efficiency In Court Systems; Technology & Timely Justice: Digital Courts, AI, And Data Governance; and Plea Bargaining & Pre-Trial Mechanisms: Efficiency Without Compromising Justice.
Senior lawyers, legal experts and academics participated in the sessions including: Dr. Pinky Anand; Mr. Tanveer Ahmed Mir; Mr. Sanjiv Sen; Mr. Maninder Singh, Senior Advocates, Supreme Court of India, with Professor Shireen Moti, Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School, and Dr. Garima Tiwari, Associate Professor, National Law University Delhi. Other sessions included: Dr. Aprajita Bhatt, Associate Professor, National Law University Delhi; Mr. Aryan Grover, Founder & CEO, Vetoai, Technologies Bharat Ltd.; Prof. Paavni Jain, Assistant Director, Cyril Shroff Centre For AI, Law & Regulation, Jindal Global Law School; Ms. Geeta Luthra, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; Mr. Parth Maniktala, Chief Legal Officer, Adalat AI. The final session saw the participation of Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai, Vice Chancellor, National Law University Delhi, who delivered the keynote address. Other speakers included Ms. Vrinda Bhandari, Advocate, Supreme Court of India; Prof. Vaibhav Chadha, Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School; Prof. (Dr.) Khagesh Gautam, Professor, Jindal Global Law School; and Mr. Satvik Varma, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; moderated by Ms. Priyanshi Singh, Academic Fellow, National Law University Delhi.
The Introductory Remarks were given by Prof. Aparna Babu George, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School, and the Vote of Thanks was delivered by Prof. Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, Registrar, O.P. Jindal Global University.
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