
Why they pleaded guilty to walk out of jail, end their legal ordeal
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
As the court visitors rose from their seats after the verdict, Kunwarpal was a free man
Rishi from Bulandshahr — facing charges under the UP Gangster Act since 2002 — pleaded guilty after spending over nine years in jail. The court sentenced him to the time he had already served behind bars — 9 years, 5 months, and 12 days. Rishi walked out free after paying a Rs 5,000 fine.
Similarly, Sahil — arrested in Noida with 5.2gm of smack — chose to plead guilty after seven months in custody. The fast-track court, considering his status as the sole earning member of his family, sentenced him to the time already served in jail plus a Rs 1,000 fine
These are not cases in isolation.
They represent a growing trend where defendants are increasingly choosing to admit their guilt and plead for leniency instead of standing trial to expedite resolution. Called 'plea bargaining', the clause is being increasingly used by those who have spent considerable time in police custody.
"Most of these accused don't have active family members to pray on their behalf. So, they often spend several years behind bars without their cases even coming up for trial," said Prateek Kumar, a lawyer who claimed to know many such cases.
Special public prosecutor Varun Tyagi, who argued against Danish in a Gangster Act case, said the accused was advised by his lawyer to plead guilty. "He had been in jail since April 2023 and suffering from failing health. Danish had denied the charges against him on June 25. Merely a week ahead, he decided to confess to the crime. His counsel did not cross the prosecution's arguments, which suggests that the accused knew it was better to plead for leniency than continuing to argue the case," Tyagi said.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
Danish was sentenced to 2 years and three months of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5,000. "He had already spent that period in jail. So, he walked out free," he added.
Ajit Nagar, secretary at the GB Nagar Bar Association, insisted that plea bargaining significantly reduced case pendency. "When an accused pleads guilty, they are at liberty to bargain under provisions of law for a lesser punishment from court," he added.
Nagar pointed out that in certain cases, most of the accused preferred to plead guilty to fast track their hearings. "For instance, no one wants to contest cases where vehicles are impounded by police for traffic violations. The vehicle will remain confiscated unless the matter is disposed of. So, pleading guilty and paying a fine to end the case seems better than deciding to argue," he said.
Similarly, in cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the accused are often encouraged by their counsel to plead guilty when the quantity of the contraband is less.
Since the penal provision for smaller quantities of drugs is up to one year, the accused can bargain for a lesser sentence and secure release earlier than waiting for a trial, which may take several years.
In NDPS cases, the punishment and chances of bail depend upon the quantity of contraband recovered. According to lawyers, the quantity of drugs is categorised as 'small' and 'commercial' for different substances.
For instance, a kilo of ganja is considered 'small' while 20kg is treated as a 'commercial' quantity. But in the case of cocaine, 2gm is 'small' while 100gm is 'commercial'.
Ajit Handa, a defence counsel at the district court in Ghaziabad, pointed out that obtaining bail under the stringent NDPS Act was often difficult.
"Usually, those arrested in such cases remain in jail for a longer period because of high pendency.
But, if the quantity of drugs recovered is small, they can come out of jail early by pleading guilty," he said.
"Sahil's case is a pointer to this. The court acknowledged he was the sole breadwinner in his family and accepted his plea," Handed went on to addd.
Introduced in 2006 as Chapter XXI-A in the Criminal Procedure Code, plea bargaining aims at reducing court backlogs and streamlining the judicial process. However, it's not applicable in cases involving crimes against women or children below 14, those affecting socio-economic conditions, or repeat offenders.
Utkarsh Vats, special public prosecutor (Pocso), said cases involving serious crimes were exempt from plea bargaining as well.
"People accused under the Pocso Act cannot plead guilty for want of leniency by the court. Even if an accused pleads guilty, their case is heard in keeping with available penal provisions in the law," he added.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New Indian Express
12 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Transformer scam: Reply sought from former Electricity Min Balaji, DVAC
CHENNAI: Justice P Velmurugan of the Madras High Court on Friday ordered notice to the director of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), the chairman and managing director of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO), former electricity minister V Senthil Balaji and others on a petition filed by E Saravanan, deputy secretary of AIADMK lawyers' wing. The petition had sought directions to the DVAC to register an FIR in connection with the alleged irregularities in procurement of transformers. The petitioner alleged that Rs 397 crore loss was inflicted on the public sector undertaking due to the irregularities in procuring 45,800 transformers at a cost of Rs 1,068 crore during 2021-23. He stated the DVAC has not taken appropriate action based on his representation submitted in May seeking registration of FIR and setting up a special investigation team to probe the matter. The judge further directed the Registry to tag this petition with the one filed by Arappor Iyakkam on the same issue and adjourned hearing by four weeks.


New Indian Express
12 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Gang hacks Dalit brothers to death near temple in Pudukkottai's Avudaiyarkoil
PUDUKKOTTAI: A 35-year-old man and his younger brother were hacked to death, allegedly by an eight-member gang, near a temple at Avudaiyarkoil in the district on Thursday night. The accused are suspected to have committed the crime against the two Scheduled Caste (SC) men over previous enmity and caste-based hostility. A case, under sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, has been booked against the accused and all of them have been detained for inquiries, the police said. The victims have been identified as K Kannan and his younger brother K Karthik (29). The accused, who arrived in bikes, confronted the residents of Kamarajar Nagar near the Draupadi Amman temple in Aavudaiyarkoil and hacked them to death with machetes. The accused then surrendered at the Nagudi police station on Friday, the police said. According to an FIR registered based on a complaint by Kannan's wife, Kalidass, who is a caste Hindu, had tried to forcibly marry her before she eloped with Kannan 11 years ago. The tensions recently escalated following a dispute over a bike sale involving Kannan and another accused, Muthukumar.


New Indian Express
12 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Chennai: Three women held, child rescued in suspected trafficking racket
CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Police (GCP) busted a suspected child trafficking racket in Puzhal on Friday, rescuing a child and detaining three women during a covert operation triggered by a tip-off from a local resident. All three will be formally arrested after inquiry. According to police, one of the suspect Vidya (36) was nabbed after she arrived on a two-wheeler at Britannia Nagar near Kathirvedu in Puzhal with a male child, allegedly for sale. Acting on prior information, the police detained her. Based on her statement, Rathi Devi (39) and Deepa were picked up from a house in Menambedu near Ambattur. The duo is being questioned, the police said. A police source said the case surfaced after one Karthik alerted the Puzhal police, claiming a woman had approached him with an offer to sell a child for Rs 12 lakh. Under police instructions, Karthik continued to engage with the suspect, who asked Rs 10 lakh for the child's mother and Rs 2 lakh for herself, the police said. She agreed to deliver the child at a designated location, leading to her detention on Friday. The police said initial inquiries revealed that Rathi Devi, separated from her husband, had planned to sell her own child due to financial distress, allegedly with the help of Vidya and Deepa. Officers also found multiple photos of children on Vidya's phone, raising suspicions of a broader trafficking network, police said. All three women are in custody as the police are questioning them separately to verify their claims and uncover possible links to other missing children. The rescued child has been handed over to the child welfare department, the police said.