Witness protection - why cant it be made the responsibility of the accused?
By vanny
@vandana7 (102698)
India
December 3, 2011 10:20pm CST
If I were to draft Indian Penal Code and all relevant rules and laws, I would make accused responsible for witness protection. I am talking about this based on case a witness who has gone missing in a famous case involving a senior politician in our country.
I would dismiss the case instantly if witnesses turned hostile or retraced their statements, or went missing, awarding the judgment in favor of the party who stood to gain if witness was around. That way, there would be no buying or threatening of witnesses and no kidnapping or killing of witnesses. More people would be happy to come forward with information, and may be we could even reward them for their efforts.
What is your take on this?
1 person likes this
4 responses
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
4 Dec 11
To start with that... the first thing that you would need to change is - Accused is the Culprit... as right now, Accused is only one of the Suspects not the one who actually did the crime... And that can be anyone... you , me or even anyone else... Why should I be held responsible for protecting the Witness if I am not confirmed to have committed the crime...
Ok, so I am the accused and maybe the one who did it... but then there are always many other ways that I would find to make that witness go hostile... After all, I dont want to end up anywhere except the A+ class of Tihar (if I am going to prison)
.... And maybe this is why they did nothing to update that old Penal Code... which was handed over to us by our so called ancestors from the British Raaj
Ok, so I am the accused and maybe the one who did it... but then there are always many other ways that I would find to make that witness go hostile... After all, I dont want to end up anywhere except the A+ class of Tihar (if I am going to prison)
.... And maybe this is why they did nothing to update that old Penal Code... which was handed over to us by our so called ancestors from the British Raaj @vandana7 (102698)
• India
4 Dec 11
Aw thesids..you have got so accustomed to the methods of Indian politicians..
I meant if a witness says Mr. A is responsible for the crime, then Mr. A becomes responsible for ensuring that witness doesnt turn hostile, his or her family is protected, not thrown out of job, his or her promotion is not stopped, and finally, he is not killed, or maimed or harmed in any way. Should any of these things happen, Mr. A would be deemed guilty without any further proceedings. Effectively, no accused would spend monies to harm a witness.
I meant if a witness says Mr. A is responsible for the crime, then Mr. A becomes responsible for ensuring that witness doesnt turn hostile, his or her family is protected, not thrown out of job, his or her promotion is not stopped, and finally, he is not killed, or maimed or harmed in any way. Should any of these things happen, Mr. A would be deemed guilty without any further proceedings. Effectively, no accused would spend monies to harm a witness.@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
4 Dec 11
I studied Politics for 3 long years of my Graduation... So it has to show up somewhere
The proposition is great no doubt but... needs some more refinement.
Based on the current one -
anyone can come up to the court alleging A is the one responsible. Why A should now bother to ensure the safety of someone whom he never knew or met (forget the crime). Then the witness resigns from his job and says I have been thrown out of the Job because of my being a witness... that is another case at the courts
The base thing that you forget is the courts are already loaded with too many cases and file work - the red tape-ism. Lets fix those first and also the judges should be responsible for "Pending Cases"
The proposition is great no doubt but... needs some more refinement.
Based on the current one -
anyone can come up to the court alleging A is the one responsible. Why A should now bother to ensure the safety of someone whom he never knew or met (forget the crime). Then the witness resigns from his job and says I have been thrown out of the Job because of my being a witness... that is another case at the courts
The base thing that you forget is the courts are already loaded with too many cases and file work - the red tape-ism. Lets fix those first and also the judges should be responsible for "Pending Cases"@vandana7 (102698)
• India
5 Dec 11
Who would know better about Pending cases than one who is suffering because of one such case since last 30 years. :) Yeah, I know. As of now, our case is in Supreme Court. We are in the final hearing round since last 3 to four months. Government is now to provide papers (translation of some Urdu matter) to us by 19th and we have to give our clarifications on that by 7th Jan. Thereafter an uninterrupted session till the matter is disposed this way or the other. Had the case been resolved long ago, we would have been better off. May be I would have paid hefty dowry and found myself somebdy..lol.
@shibham (16977)
• India
4 Dec 11
Not only this one. We had many errors and conflicts on our constitution. I never consider that our constitution is always in favor of us. When you are saying about witness protection or motivation, no one can change anything except politicians or business icons. If you have enough money then Indian panel codes are in your pocket.
Have a nice time.
@vandana7 (102698)
• India
4 Dec 11
Anna Hazare should have tried for complete rewriting of constitution, and a referendum across the country on a website with what should be included, what should be excluded and how a particular problem should be tackled, and what are the drawbacks and will they be addressed if this is how new laws are framed, etc... we need that!
Lokayukta is a bandaid, not a cure. :(
@mayka123 (17083)
• India
4 Dec 11
Very rarely do people come forward as witnesses anymore. May be if you were in charge of drafting the Indian Penal Code with all its rules and laws things may have been different. It then we have to accept witnesses disappearing or else turning hostile after getting a hefty amount to do so in most cases.
