The amendment introduced in the CrPC that if a crime committed does not carry a sentence of more than seven years, the person who has committed it cannot be arrested as a first resort, is a severe jolt for the rule of law. Your editorial ‘New criminal procedure’, January 7, has raised the vital question as to whether it is really desirable that someone suspected of such crimes should not be liable to be arrested as a first step. The question of an accused absconding when served notice arises only after the so-called “notice of appearance” is actually delivered to the person concerned.
Till now, a person caught red-handed or suspected of committing a criminal offence is arrested and subsequently released only on bail after genuine sureties guarantee the presence of the accused as and when required by the police. With the new procedure, the offenders would be allowed to get away simply by giving their identity and address. This provision ridiculously presumes that we are a society of saints and the offenders would disclose their real identities and genuine addresses. It is not mandatory for the people to carry proof of their identity and address with them. The offenders will be free to hide their real identity and give fake addresses. How will the police check the genuineness of the information provided by the offender before he is allowed to go? The amendment further presumes that even if a person turns up in response to the “notice of appearance”, s/he will, on being asked by the police, plainly admit having committed the offence.
What the National Police Commission had pointed out, more than 30 years ago has become totally irrelevant in the present times. The criminals’ rate of crime has gone up many times while the fear of law has gone to rock bottom. The arrest of an accused or suspect in a crime of whatever nature is the first step and basic requirement for enforcing the rule of law. To scrap this provision in certain crimes on the plea that those arrested are subjected to harassment by the police is an open invitation to lawlessness and it will certainly embolden people who commit such crimes.
M C Joshi, Lucknow
