Attorney General For India Calls For New Framework For Plea Bargaining At Seminar On Delivering Justice In Time

Speaking at the inaugural session, Venkataramani observed that plea bargaining is becoming universal and emphasised the need for a national protocol for plea bargaining that could guide practitioners and victims in a transparent and objective manner.

He stated that the legal and civil authority should be prepared to play important roles in developing such a framework and noted that the Chief Justice of India has consented to have a strong internal discussion on the issue. He further highlighted that existing legal mechanisms should be examined with a new perspective to ensure concessions for the defence and effective resource management for the State.

The Attorney General also spoke about the idea of establishing a National Institute for Criminal Justice Administration, which could develop an everyday index to measure performance in the justice system. He emphasised that those practising in trial courts understand the difficulties faced when resources and time are wasted by governments, institutions, lawyers, judges, and litigants.

Venkataramani also stressed the importance of developing a “Legal Health Index” for the country. According to him, such an index could identify factors including preventative and predictable procedures, the ease of justice, the roles of stakeholders, and the investment of resources required for justice delivery. He suggested that law schools and universities could play an important role in conceiving and maintaining such an index, while also encouraging intellectual engagement from the wider community.

In his keynote address, Senior Advocate and Member of Parliament Abhishek M. Singhvi spoke about the large pendency of cases in India. He described the situation as a paradox where India's legal system produces sophisticated jurisprudence while simultaneously struggling with a massive backlog of cases.

Singhvi emphasised the need to address what he described as the “ABCD” issues — access, backlog, cost, and delay. He called for filling judicial vacancies, adopting multi-track case management systems, resolving very old cases through dedicated mechanisms, strengthening mediation, reviving Gram Nyayalayas, and improving coordination between courts, police, and prisons.

He also highlighted the need for a curative and preventive approach with bold and unconventional methods to deal with pendency. Referring to arbitration, he observed that arbitration has increasingly become “pre-litigation litigation”, adding another layer to dispute resolution. He also pointed out the lack of trained mediators and emphasised the need to address this issue urgently. Singhvi further referred to the need for better coordination among stakeholders in the criminal justice system, including judges, police, and prison staff.

In his welcome address, Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University, stated that the rule of law depends not only on constitutional design or legal doctrine but also on the ability of institutions to deliver justice in a timely, fair, and effective manner.

He highlighted the pendency crisis in India, with more than five crore pending cases, and proposed five pillars for transforming justice delivery: strengthening judicial capacity, procedural reform and active case management, the use of technology and artificial intelligence in courts, expansion of plea bargaining and pre-trial mechanisms, and data-driven justice governance.

Raj Kumar also noted the collaboration between National Law University Delhi, Jindal Global Law School, and O.P. Jindal Global University and expressed the intention to expand the seminar into a nationwide series of discussions across multiple cities and states to build momentum around the need for timely justice delivery.

A message was also conveyed from the Minister of State for Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, who was unable to attend due to official responsibilities. It was noted that a comprehensive report of the seminar deliberations would be shared with him for possible follow-up discussions.

Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai, Vice Chancellor of National Law University Delhi, reflected on the theme “Justice in Time.” He cautioned that speed alone does not equate to justice, emphasising that legitimacy in the justice system depends on fairness, transparency, and procedural integrity.

He also called for empirical evaluation of the timelines introduced in India's new criminal laws, strengthening of victim justice frameworks, provision of continuous legal aid from the early stages, and the development of a coherent national sentencing policy.

The day-long seminar featured several sessions, including “Institutional & Procedural Reforms: Improving Efficiency in Court Systems,” “Technology & Timely Justice: Digital Courts, AI, and Data Governance,” and “Plea Bargaining & Pre-Trial Mechanisms: Efficiency Without Compromising Justice.”

Senior lawyers, legal experts, and academics participated in the sessions, including Dr. Pinky Anand, Tanveer Ahmed Mir, Sanjiv Sen, and Maninder Singh, Senior Advocates, Supreme Court of India; Professor Shireen Moti, Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School; and Dr. Garima Tiwari, Associate Professor, National Law University Delhi.

Other participants included Dr. Aprajita Bhatt, Associate Professor, National Law University Delhi; Aryan Grover, Founder and CEO, Vetoai, Technologies Bharat Ltd.; Prof. Paavni Jain, Assistant Director, Cyril Shroff Centre for AI, Law & Regulation, Jindal Global Law School; Geeta Luthra, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; and Parth Maniktala, Chief Legal Officer, Adalat AI.

The final session saw the participation of Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai, Vice Chancellor, National Law University Delhi, who delivered the keynote address. Other speakers included Vrinda Bhandari, Advocate, Supreme Court of India; Prof. Vaibhav Chadha, Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School; Prof. (Dr.) Khagesh Gautam, Professor, Jindal Global Law School; and Satvik Varma, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India, and was moderated by Priyanshi Singh, Academic Fellow, National Law University Delhi.

The introductory remarks were delivered by Prof. Aparna Babu George, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School, while the vote of thanks was delivered by Prof. Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, Registrar, O.P. Jindal Global University.