• Nitish Chauhan

For the past few decades, the Courts have been overburdened with criminal cases and to tackle this situation, the Parliament brought into action the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2005 which introduced the concept of plea bargaining in India under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code. In general, plea bargaining involves negotiations during a criminal trial in which the person accused agrees to admit to a crime in exchange for which the prosecutor agrees to ask for a lenient sentence than it would have been recommended if the accused had proceeded with the original charge filed or if he had chosen to stand trial instead of negotiating. This concept is still new in Indian courts and is still evolving and has been criticised many times by legal scholars. This article examines how plea bargaining came into effect in India and also discusses its meaning and provisions under the Criminal Code. This article then lays emphasise on the procedure which is followed by the parties involved in a plea bargain. Further, this article also throws light upon the advantages and disadvantages of plea bargaining while citing few cases where the courts have given their opinion regarding this concept.

Plea bargaining, criminal, justice, negotiations, accused, offence.

"Plea Bargaining in India: Its Present Scenario ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 3, page no.327-334, March-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1903B50.pdf

"Plea Bargaining in India: Its Present Scenario ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 3, page no. pp327-334, March-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1903B50.pdf