All district court Bar Associations have announced a day-long strike on Wednesday,to oppose the proposed amendments in the CrPC,which will grant the police the discretion to arrest persons accused of cognizable offence. Cognizable offence carries imprisonment up to seven years. Aimed at preventing whimsical arrests made by the police,the amendment,however,has not gone down well with the associations. With most Bar members saying that once the Presidents assent is granted,the amendment would do away with the deterrence effect of arrests and might result in an increased crime rate,the proposal has instead led to a debate on the subject of individual liberty against social interest among the legal fraternity. All Bar Associations of Delhi strongly disapprove of the anti-public and anti-social amendments in the CrPC,whereby the deterrent provisions of law of making arrest mandatory has been done away with,while giving wide powers to police to arrest or not to arrest, Rajiv Khosla,president,Delhi Bar Association,said. Its the duty of the government to enact laws that prevent crime. The proposed amendments,however,will give rise to more corruption in society,for crime figures in the recent past clearly indicate that offences punishable with up to seven years imprisonment constitute 85 per cent of the total offences committed, Khosla said. Some members of the fraternity though,consider the proposal appropriate and an enhancement of the rights of the person arrested. The amendment does not make way for increased crime in society,as it merely proposes that reasons for arrest should be sound and recorded in writing by the police officer, noted criminal lawyer R K Naseem said. It grants discretion to the police in making arrests,by proposing that the officer may,instead of arresting the person concerned,issue a notice of appearance,asking him to cooperate with the police officer in the probe. Based on recommendations of the law commission,the amendments are to act as a tool of check and balance.
