Free-for-all crime -

Who says the law is an ass? If you’re a criminal, or a would-be criminal, in India the law is a gas. And it just got gassier. On December 23, 2008, the Lok Sabha gave criminality a Christmas bonanza by passing a radically amended Criminal Procedure Code Bill — along with seven other Bills, all of which were passed within a mere 17 minutes without any time-wasting frivolities such as debate and discussion — which, in effect, prevents law enforcement authorities from arresting someone who has committed a crime which carries a prison sentence of up to seven years. Instead of clapping behind bars the accused in such cases — which include attempt to commit culpable homicide; voluntarily causing grievous hurt; cheating; outraging a woman’s modesty; death caused by negligence; and assaulting the President — the police will now have to issue a ‘notice of appearance’ to the individual concerned who will be expected to ‘cooperate’ with the investigation (rather in the same manner in which Islamabad has offered by way of a ‘joint mechanism’ to ‘cooperate’ with Indian agencies to get to the truth behind the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai). Only if the accused fails to respond to the ‘notice of appearance’ can the police have recourse to arrest — by which time the accused, having been helpfully tipped off by the ‘notice of appearance’, presumably has had the good sense to get as far as possible out of the reach of the no-longer long arm of the law.
Criminals and potential criminals can now, like other sensible citizens, plan their criminal activities — as people plan their investment portfolios, purchase of consumer durables, and their choice of holiday destination — in terms of affordability and the cost-benefit ratio involved. For example, prudent wrongdoers will now be able to apply the principle of due diligence to the crimes they might be contemplating. A quick dekko at the provisions of the penal code which stipulate the maximum sentences for different criminal acts will, like consulting a ready reckoner, reveal what may, or may not, be undertaken with impunity. For instance, murder, rape, dowry death, waging war on the state, robbery or dacoity with deadly weapons are all no-nos as the jail-time in these cases exceeds the sevenyear exemption limit for arrests. As such, the risk-averse criminal would be advised to avoid such acts and seek safer options. So instead of rape, a public servant, for example, might contemplate inducing a person in his (or, possibly, her) custody into having sex, an offence which, under Section 376 B, attracts a sentence of only five years and as such is safely within the no-arrest limit. It’s like taking your own breathalyser test and determining whether you’re over or under the safety limit. In such a scenario, a savvy murderer might well be motivated to make the planned act look like a hit-and-run, or other form of terminal mayhem which falls within the seven-year escape clause.
Apart from helping criminals to freely plan their careers in crime, the seven-year solution will also help ease the huge logjam of pending court cases and the stifling congestion in jails and prisons. There are almost 30 million cases pending in the country’s law courts. This, in turn, impacts prison congestion as thousands of undertrials (15,784 and 15,777, respectively, in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh alone, according to the National Crime Records Bureau), swell penal populations to bursting point. The 1,140 central, district and sub jails, with a total capacity of 2,33,543, currently house 3,26,519 inmates, of which as many as 66.7 per cent are undertrials. Each prisoner, convict or undertrial, costs the taxpayer an average of Rs 11,901.30 (2003-04 figures) per annum in maintenance.
The seven-year-no-arrest rule should significantly reduce prison populations and costs. As such, it should be welcomed both by the thrifty taxpayer as well as the career criminal, who can now cheerfully mug the former (after ensuring that mugging is within the seven-year safety zone) without fear of repercussion, knowing it’s all perfectly legal. What a gas.

JS