Powers, Duties and Functions of Panchayati Raj System

A project submitted to

ARMY INSTITUTE OF LAW, MOHALI

Under the guidance of

Mrs. Jasleen Kaur Chahal
In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of degree of
B.A.LL.B 2019-24
Local Laws

By
MEHEK SANDHU (X SEMESTER)
(1923)

PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks to my Local Laws teacher, Mrs. Jasleen Chahal, for
giving me the opportunity to work on this project. I would also like to express my gratitude to
Principal Ma’am Dr. Tejinder Kaur for providing me with all the facilities that were required.

I would like to thank my parents and friends for giving me suggestions and guidance that
helped me in completing the project. Lastly, I would like to thank my batchmates who also
helped me in making the project by giving their constructive feedback and criticism for the
project.

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INDEX
INTRODUCTION

The word ‘criminology’ is derived from the Latin word “CRIMEN” which means accusation
and LOGIA means a study of a particular concept or subject. Thus, it can be said that
criminology refers to the scientific study of crime and criminal behavior. Moreover, it is also
a study of the causes of crimes based on a sociological viewpoint. Criminology is a subject
which takes into consideration the harsh reality of crime and the psychology of a criminal
linked with the sociological view. Criminology is of two types- Criminal Biology and
Criminal Sociology.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND CRIMINOLOGY

Criminal justice deals with the scope and nature of particular crimes and a series of
institutions, agencies are involved to ensure the effective functioning of the justice delivery
system. The laws are already in place and legalized focus is much on its fair application and
implementation. In short, it consists of the identification of criminals, apprehension,
judgment and punishment. Police authorities, courts, and forensic departments are some of
the organs of the criminal justice system. Thus, it can be said that criminology is the study of
criminal theories, the criminal justice system and law enforcement agencies that existed at
that time.

The enforcement agencies are wide and elongated which derives their authority from the
subject matter of criminology, which provides the knowledge of crime’s root causes. In the
criminal justice system focus is on “who committed a crime?” and “how”, whereas, in
criminology question of “why?” arises i.e., why someone would lead to violating the law.
However, criminology refers to the study of crime. It focuses much on the reasoning and
logic behind the crime and its impact on society at large. A study of criminal behavior and
criminal psychology are collectively called as “criminology”.

Thus, criminology is defined as-

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Study of crime and criminal behavior informed by principles of sociology and other non-
legal fields, including psychology, economics, statistics and anthropology. Criminology
studies social action data and combines it with criminal activity in order to determine a
motive and criminal consequences.

HISTORY OF CRIMINOLOGY

Paul Topinard during a study used the word “criminology” for the first time in 1890. It was in
the eighteenth century where that two scholars like Cesare Beccaria in Italy, who is also
known as the Father of Criminology and Jeremy Bentham in England, who also contributed
to the criminal justice system. Later, in the nineteenth century, scholars and thinkers started
to find the reasons for criminal acts committed by an individual along with his society in the
study of criminology. It means the study of criminology started giving space to the empirical
method in its sphere and ambit. Further, Bentham put more emphasis on crime rather than on
crime. According to him, the consequences of crime are more important rather than the
motivation for the crime. If we compare his theory to modern principles of criminology mens
rea is of less significance.

Eminent scholars like Plato, Aristotle, Bentham, and Voltaire focused more on social reforms
in legal and political institutions so that a naturalistic vision of criminal law can be achieved.
The social contract theory gained prominence during this time as it dealt with the meeting of
social minds i.e., living together in society as per the contract made with the state. Here the
state is conferred with the power of lying down moral and political norms or rules of behavior
in order to comply with fundamental social rules, laws and principles of society. Thus, we
can say that criminology founds its origin in the basics of social contract theory also.

The nature and scope of criminal theories changed as and when time and societal norms
changed. If we focus on ancient criminological jurisprudence concepts like DANDA,
DHARMA AND RAJ DHARMA. These are the disciplinary codes made for the
emancipation of society. A code which binds society in particular norms in order to make the
criminal justice system better.

HISTORY OF CRIMINOLOGY IN INDIA

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The criminal justice system in India follows the legal procedures established by the British in
the pre-independence era. After the call of the United Nations Educational, Scientific And
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1957 for the development of criminology in developing
countries, India also took a step forward to develop the academic aspects of criminology. The
central university in the state of Madhya Pradesh namely Sagar University first established an
academic study of criminology in 1959.

SCHOOLS OF CRIMINOLOGY

Pre-Classical School

Pre-classical school is the most ancient school of thought in the field of criminology. During
that period religion had the upper hand in ruling Europe. Saint Thomas Acquinas was a
thinker of this school who by the means of theology and philosophy gave divine connotation
to the theory of crime. He had given an important spiritual explanation of crime and its
punishment. He focused more on the causes of crime rather than the consequences. For
example, a thief commits theft due to misery and not evil intentions. According to him crime
not only harmed victims but also criminals as impacted the Rationality and sensitiveness of a
person. Aquinas views humans as rational animals and according to him, crime loses the
rationality of a person.

Therefore, it can be said that pre-classical school is based more on the teachings of saint
Thomas Aquinas. As mentioned earlier Europe was dominated by religious ideas during this
period. Scientific temperament was absent there, so belief in philosophical understanding had
gained importance. Belief in some external power was there rather than inner conscience. It
was believed that man doesn’t commit crime due to his or her free will but due to the
influence of some external power. That devil force deviates a man from doing a righteous
thing. Due to this man becomes reckless and loses moral values. According to this school fear
of God starts removing as soon as an individual gets attracted towards the world of demons.
Here, God acts as a check on individual activities in order to keep him away from the satanic
world. Pre-classical school was more based omnipotence of God which they considered a
sovereign power. Further during the 17th century religious and spiritual conceptions started
gaining attention which had given scope for the advancement of the demonological school.

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Nature Of Punishments During Pre-Classical School

During the pre-classical school nature of punishments was severe such as whipping, ordeal by
hot water, burning, ordeal by hot oil, etc. the main aim behind the infliction of such harsh
punishment was to stop an individual from following a path of demons and to urge an
individual to follow a path of the divine. The offender was exposed to cruel treatment in
order to avoid the repetition of offenses. Though this approach was unscientific and inhuman
it was accepted in that period. They were keen on the principles in which they believed i.e the
sovereign authority of God.

Classical School

The thinkers in the eighteenth century had developed this school of thought on Criminology.
As previously there were severe punishments like amputation of organs, capital and others
involving the intent of hurting the wrongdoer bodily, which were said to be harsh and don’t
reduce the rate of crime. As the crimes were considered as ‘sin’ and they are said to be the act
of Demon and Devils and they were known as the ‘Demonological theory of criminality’.
Thus, the thinkers of this school improved the system of bodily punishments to the
punishment for the soul by deterring the wrongdoer in prison. This school is developed by
two notable Thinkers, they are Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham.

Cesare Beccaria

Cesare Beccaria is the ‘Father of Criminology’. Cesare Beccaria is an aristocrat and his
thinking on the punishment system in Europe was irrational. Beccaria is a major contributor
to the Criminal Law of Europe in the eighteenth century. Beccaria’s view on punishments
was preventive, as stated in his book, “its contents were designed to undermine many if not
all of the cherished beliefs of those in a position to determine the fate of those accused and
convicted of a crime. [An] attack on the prevailing systems for the administration of criminal
justice. it aroused the hostility and resistance of those who stood to gain by the perpetuation
of the barbaric and archaic penological institutions of the day.” Beccaria believed in three
ideology that:

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 a. Every individual has free will in doing an act and should not be restricted;
b. Every individual acts rationally for his wants and goods, thus law should be
protective of an individual.
c. Every individual’s behavior is predictable and so, it can be predicted and
controlled.
Beccaria propounded the principle of ‘Pleasure and Pain’, where Beccaria argued on the same
level of punishment is ordered for two different crimes. Beccaria also argued against the
different punishment for the same crime to different classes of people, through these words
“If an equal punishment is ordained for two crimes that injure society in different degrees,
there is nothing to deter men from committing the greater [crime] as often as it is attended
with greater advantage.” Beccaria always stood against the severity of punishments, as
follows, “So that any punishment be not an act of violence of one or of many against the
other, it is essential that it be public, prompt, necessary, [as] minimal in severity as possible
under given circumstances, proportional to the crime, and prescribed by the laws.”

Jeremy Bentham

Jeremy Bentham is an English philosopher and contributed more towards Law and
Punishments. Jeremy Bentham supports and follows the general principles of Cesare
Beccaria. Moreover, Jeremy Bentham also made his contribution to the Classical School of
Criminology, as both of them belonged to a similar time period, where the Criminal system in
Europe is more severe. Jeremy Bentham propounded the concept of utilitarianism’, which
was expressed as, an “…irrational system of absolutes but by a supposedly verifiable
principle. The principle was that of ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’ or simply
‘the greatest happiness.” Bentham propounded the “Of the four sources Sanctions or Sources
of Pain and Pleasure”, which provides the form of the severity of punishment. Moreover, he
places that calculation for punishments isn’t necessary, small disproportion shall be ignored.

Neo-Classical School

After the emergence of the classical school, the neo-classical school gained prominence as it
was realized that the classical school is more confined to a historical and literature-based
approach. Further, it explains crime as a free will choice of a person i.e., criminals make a

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rational choice regarding the commission of a crime. Behind the commission of any criminal
act, they supported the maximum pain and minimum pleasure principle. Even they supported
severe punishment in order to inflict pain and torture and to create fear in the minds of
people.

However, neo-classical schools focus more on scientific study by recognizing the mental
aspects of an offender. According to neo classical school of thought, psychology plays an
important role in the commission of a crime. They supported the individualization of
offender-like circumstances under which the person has committed the crime. People lacking
a normal level of intelligence or some mental incapacities are irresponsible in their conduct as
they do not have the such understanding to differentiate between criminal and non-criminal
acts.

Further, they added that factors such as the personality of an individual, previous life history,
character, and social and economic background should be taken into consideration in
assessing the guilt of the accused. It is the neo-classical school of thought only which
provided a pathway toward the origin of the jury system in criminal jurisprudence.

Punishments Offered Under Neo-Classical School

Neo-Classical Scholars differentiate in the case of punishment inflicted on an individual

based on a psychological understanding of a person. It takes into consideration the mental
state of a person while committing a crime. Thus, they justified the mitigation of equal
punishment in cases of certain psychopathic offenders. Commenting on this point, GILLIN
observed that “neo-classists represent a reaction against the severity of classical view of equal
punishment for the same offence.”

Positivists School

The Positivist schools attempted to define scientific principles for the measurement and
qualification of criminal behavior. Science is the core aspect of this school which negates the
logical and divine concepts unlike the pre-classical school of thought. It deals with the major
aspect of scientific Socialism. Thus, it is divided into-

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 1. Biological positivism
Biological positivism had taken into consideration the elements like physical features and it
also produces the study on physiognomy which linked attributes of the mind to frame the
brain as revealed through the skull. It put emphasis on the fact that the real cause of
criminality lay in the anthropological features of criminals. In short, it focuses on the
anthropological and biological aspects of the offender toward the commission of a crime.
This school tries to establish a symbiotic relationship between criminality and the structure
and functioning of the brain. The main exponents of this school were three eminent Italian
criminologists namely: Ceasare Lombroso, Raffalele Garafalo, and Enrico Ferri. Therefore,
this school is also known as the Itlalian School Of Criminology.

2. Psychological Positivism
If Biological Positivism Takes into consideration the physical aspects of crime, psychological
positivism considers the mental aspect of crime. It looks at determinations, thoughts,
reactions and emotional intelligence in criminal behavior. He was Sigmund Freud who
established the psychoanalytical model in which he discussed the three sets of interacting
forces like ID, EGO and SUPEREGO. These are the three elements in a human personality
that urge them to behave in a certain manner.

3. Social Positivism
Social positivism considers the impact of crime on society as a whole. It’s another name for
the scientific study of society or the social world. He was August Compte who developed a
positivist approach to the positivist school of thought. It deals with the fact that society is like
a physical world and functions based on a general set of laws.

Thus, it can be said that the positive school of thought focuses on the sociological definition
in terms of the biological determination of crime. Instead of infliction of punishment upon
offenders this school suggests treatment methods dealing with the fact that criminals be
punished not according to the gravity of their crime but according to the circumstances
concerned with it.

Conclusion

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It may be concluded that schools of criminology are the principles or code of conduct for
Jurisprudence which deals with a socio-legal study which seeks to discover the causes of
criminality and recommends remedies to reduce crime. These schools of criminology are the
base for effective guidelines for the formation of criminal regulations and penal policy.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Books
1. Criminology & Penology with victimology by N V Paranjape, 18 th Edition,
2022
2. Criminology, Penology and Victimology by S S Srivastava, 6th Edition, 2021

 Online Sources:
1. SCCOnline.com
2. Livelaw.in
3. EBC Reader

 Articles:
1. https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-2776-schools-of-
criminology.html
2. https://ledroitindia.in/archives/8452/schools-of-criminology-pre-classical-
classical-school/uncategorized/