Under the Criminal Procedure Code, offences can be classified on
the basis of the following three criterions;
- Cognizable
and Non cognizable offences
- Bailable
and Non bailable offences
- Offences
which will invoke a summons case and Offences which will invoke a warrants
case.
Cognizable and Non-Cognizable offences
Cognizable and non-cognizable offences
Cognizable offences have been defined in Criminal
Procedure Code as follows; " `cognizable offence' means an offence for
which, and `cognizable case' means a case in which, a police officer may, in
accordance with the First Schedule or under any other law for the time being in
force, arrest without warrant".
A non-cognizable offence has been defined in Criminal
Procedure Code as follows, "`non-cognizable offence' means an offence for
which, and `non-cognizable case' means a case in which, a police officer has no
authority to arrest without warrant".
Now which offence falls under the
category of cognizable offences and which falls under the category of
non-cognizable offences can be determined as per the classification given in
the First Schedule of the Criminal Procedure Code. The First Schedule has
classified all acts punishable under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 into
Cognizable and non-cognizable offences. Although the Code in itself does not
give any reasoning as to this classification, certain patterns can be traced if
the First schedule is studied carefully. All offences which have a punishment
of more than 3 years under the Indian Penal Code are considered to be
cognizable offences and all offences which have a punishment of less than 3
years are non-cognizable offences. Subsequently, it can be deduced that
non-cognizable offences are relatively less serious in nature than cognizable
offences.
Consequently, in case of cognizable
offences, the police officers can arrest the accused person without any warrant
or authority issued by a magistrate. They can initiate investigation on their
own accord and they needn't wait for the prior permission of a magistrate. In
fact, they have a legal duty to initiate investigations. "No proceeding of a police officer in any such case shall
at any stage be called in question on the ground that the case was one which
such officer was not empowered under this section to investigate."
On the other hand, police officers
necessarily need prior permission of a magistrate to initiate investigations in
cases of non-cognizable offences. Non cognizable offences are considered more
in the nature of private wrongs and therefore the collection of evidence and
the prosecution of offender are left to the initiative and efforts of private
citizens.
Bailable And
Non-Bailable offences
Criminal Procedure Code defines bailable and non-bailable offences
as "an offence which is shown as bailable in the First Schedule, or which
is made bailable by any other law for the time being in force; and "non-bailable
offence" means any other offence" In here too, the code does not give
any reason as to on what criteria has such classification been based upon. It
just lays down a seemingly arbitrary classification of the same. However, it can
be logically deduced that all serious offences are non-bailable whereas all
less serious offences are bailable.
Similarly, all offences which have a punishment of more than 3
years under the Indian Penal Code are considered to be non-bailable offences
and all offences which have a punishment of less than 3 years are bailable
offences. This too is subject to the exception of existence of a contrary law.
If a person accused of a bailable offence is arrested or detained without
warrant he has a right to be released on bail. In case he is accused of a
non-bailable offence, then his bail is subject to the discretion by the
authorities.
Warrant Case And
Summons Case
According to the Criminal Procedure Code, a warrant-case
"means a case relating to an offence punishable with death, imprisonment
for life or imprisonment for a term exceeding two years ".
According to the Criminal Procedure Code, "a summons case
means a case relating to an offence, not being a warrant case".
This classification helps to determine the type of trial procedure
to be adopted in the case. Naturally, the trial procedure in case of a warrant
case is much more elaborate than that of a summons case. This classification is
also useful at the stage of issuing process to the accused person in the first instance.
Need For
Reclassification Of Offences
The current classification of offences has been a major cause for
the high incidence of arbitrary and unnecessary arrest in our country. The
scheme of classification is outdated and redundant.
There is a serious need for revaluation for the classification
between cognizable and non-cognizable and bailable and non-bailable offences.
The nature and quantum of punishment attached to these offences also needs to
be revaluated.
It is not that the idea for reclassification has never come up
before, but given the present situation of our judicial system, it becomes all
the more relevant that it be done now. For instance, many minor offences against property are still classified as
non-bailable, whereas it is
evident that classifying them as compoundable offences and relying on methods
such as `plea-bargaining' may be more effective and agreeable to address the
injury caused by the same.
Also, it has been noted that the major portion of the backlog cases
in the courts consists of regulatory offences such as dishonour of cheques,
traffic violations, etc. Now, these acts were made
offences under special laws whereby the legislature had felt that in lieu of
public policy, these acts were better off classified as criminal even though
they are more akin to civil wrongs. However, the fact that they will create a
maximum backlog was envisaged by neither party. Hence, there is a need for an
informed study and revaluation of criminal laws.
The Malimath Committee suggested that the
offences be classified into
a) The Social Welfare Code,
b) The Correctional Code,
c) The Criminal code
d) The Economic and other offences code.
This approach of classifying the offences as per their nature is
considered to be far more useful than a blanket categorization of offences.
This re-classification is proposed to be done on the basis of the gravity of
the offences, appropriate procedures for investigation and dispute-resolution
as well as the proportionate nature and quantum of fines and punishments.
Its primary recommendation was to remove the distinction between cognizable and non-cognizable offences and make it obligatory on the Police to investigate all offences in respect of which a complaint is made. However, this is not a very practical option as it will lead to a further backlog of cases and will increase the burden on the police.
It advocated increasing the number of offences, for which an arrest needn't be made and increasing the number of offences where arrest can be made only with the order of the court and reducing the number of cases where arrest can be made without an order or warrant form the Magistrate.
The Malimath committee further recommended increasing the number of offences which are bailable and reducing the number of offences which are not bailable.
- A compoundable offence is one in which the trial court can compound the offence and dispose the case without trial. A non-compoundable offence is an offence in which the court cannot compound the case without trial. A compoundable offence is always a lesser degree offence punishable with a shorter jail term or fine.
The Malimath Committee recommended increasing the
number of offences that can be brought within the category of compoundable
offences, to encourage settlements without trials.
