PROJECT SYNOPSIS

THE PROJECT:-

Discussing the Criminal Branch of Law

AIM/OBJECTIVE:-

Study of what criminal law is, and discussion about a few criminal law cases
pertaining to India.

CONTENTS:-

 What is criminal law?

 Origin of criminal law
 Categories of criminal law
 A few examples of criminal law
 Elaboration on the Jessica Lal murder case
 A brief description of a few other criminal law cases

1. What is Criminal Law:-

Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes
conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to
the property, health, safety and moral welfare of people inclusive of
one’s self.

2. Origin of Criminal Law:-

The Sumerian people from what is now Iraq produced the earliest
known example of a written set of criminal laws.
 Their code, created around 2100-2050 BC, was the first to create a
distinction between criminal and civil wrongdoings.

3. Categories of Criminal Law:-

There are four categories of criminal law—felonies, misdemeanours,
felony-misdemeanours and infractions.

4. A few examples of criminal law are:-

 Murder
 Rape
 Manslaughter
 Vandalism
 Burglary
 Theft
 Arson
 Shoplifting

5. Jessica Lal Murder Case- A detailed analysis of this case will be written

On 29th April, 1999, Manu Sharma, the former son of Union minister Venod
Sharma, shot dead Jessica Lal after she refused to serve him liquor at the
Tamarind Court restaurant owned by socialite Bina Ramani in South Delhi’s
Mehrauli
3 August 1999. Sharma was charged with murder, destruction of evidence and
other offences, while his friends who were with him, Alok Khanna, Amardeep
Gill and Vikas Yadav faced lesser charges, including destruction of evidence,
conspiracy and harbouring a suspect. Others similarly charged were Shyam
Sunder Sharma, Amit Jhingan, Yograj Singh, Harvinder Chopra, Vikas Gill, Raja
Chopra, Ravinder Krishan Sudan and Dhanraj.
 Seven years after the case was opened, on 21 February 2006, nine of the
twelve accused were acquitted, including Sharma.
After this there were numerous protest campaigns, seeking to obtain redress
for the perceived miscarriage of justice.
The police petitioned the High Court for a review of the case and on 22 March
2006 the court issued warrants against the nine defendants who had stood
trial.
On 15 December 2006, the High Court ruled that Sharma was guilty based on
existing evidence, and also criticised the trial judge. On 20 December 2006,
Sharma was punished with a sentence of life imprisonment and a fine.

6. Other criminal law cases that have been selected are:-

 Mathura Rape Case

Mathura was a tribal girl, who was raped on 26 March 1972. She worked as a
domestic helper with a woman named Nushi. She met Nushi's nephew named Ashok
who wanted to marry her, but her brother did not agree to the union and went to
the local police station to lodge a complaint claiming that his sister, a minor, was
being kidnapped by Ashok and his family members. The police authority brought
Ashok and his family members to the police station. Following general investigation,
they were permitted to go back home. However, as they were leaving, Mathura was
asked to stay behind while her relatives were asked to wait outside. Mathura was
then raped by the two policemen.

The case came for hearing on 1 June 1974 in the sessions court. The judgment
returned found the defendants not guilty. It was stated that because Mathura
was 'habituated to sexual intercourse', her consent was voluntary; under the
circumstances only sexual intercourse could be proved and not rape.
On appeal, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court set aside the judgment
of the Sessions Court, and sentenced the accused to one and five years
imprisonment respectively. The Court held that passive submission due to fear
induced by serious threats could not be construed as consent or willing sexual
intercourse.
However, in September 1979 the Supreme Court of India justices Jaswant
Singh, Kailasam and Koshal in their judgement on Tukaram vs. State of
Maharashtra reversed the High Court ruling and again acquitted the accused
policemen. The Supreme Court held that Mathura had raised no alarm; and
also that there were no visible marks of injury on her body thereby suggesting
no struggle and therefore no rape. The judge noted, "Because she was used to
sex, she might have incited the cops (they were drunk on duty) to have
intercourse with her".

 Tandoor Murder Case

Sushil Sharma, a former Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress president murdered his
wife Naina Sahni, a former functionary of the Delhi unit of the Mahila
Congress. On 2nd July 1995 Sharma reportedly saw Naina on the phone as she
entered the house. She hung up but he hit redial to find the call answered by
Naina’s former classmate and Congress colleague, Matloob Karim. Enraged, he
used his pistol to kill her and then carried her body to the restaurant where he
disposed it off with Keshav Kumar, the restaurant manager, chopped her to
pieces to burn it in the tandoor and then managed to flee.  Delhi
Police investigated the case and filed a charge sheet on 27 July 1995 in
a Sessions Court. On 7 November 2003, Sushil Sharma was sentenced to
death and restaurant manager, Keshav Kumar, was given seven years rigorous
imprisonment.

 Hathras Rape Case

On 14th September 2020, a 19-year-old Dalit woman was gang raped by four
men in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district. They allegedly dragged her away
by dupatta around her neck injuring her spinal cord in the process. The
violence left her paralyzed with a severe spinal cord injury. She had bit off her
tongue in attempts to resist the rape. The victim was initially admitted to
the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh on 14
September, with her spinal cord severely damaged. She was later moved to
the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi after her condition worsened. According to the
police, the victim had been strangled with her dupatta. She died on 29
September 2020.
 police have arrested the four accused — Sandip, Ramu, Lavkush and Ravi —
on charges of attempt to murder, gang rape and violations of the Scheduled
Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
  Priyadarshini Mattoo Case
Law student Priyadarshini Mattoo was found dead on 23rd January 1996, at her
uncle’s residence in New Delhi. Her senior Santosh Kumar Singh, who had been
stalking and harassing her for years was named the main accused. He raped
and strangled her by wrapping an electrical wire around her neck and smacked
her face many times with a helmet to make it unrecognisable. On 31 August
2006, six years after the initial appeal by CBI, justices RS Sodhi and PK Bhasin
took up the case on a day to day basis and on 17th October of the same year
Santosh was found guilty. He was sentenced to death on 30th October 2006.

Sources:-

Websites: IndianKanoon and LegallyIndia