New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) India will join the ranks of countries like the US, UK, Sweden and many other developed nations with the government on Friday proposing to introduce community service as a punishment for petty crimes in the Indian legal framework. The proposed law to replace the Indian Penal Code also suggests community service in cases like attempt to suicide, public servants unlawfully engaged in trade, theft of property less than Rs 5,000, public intoxication and defamation. Pitched as a way to rehabilitate first time offenders, community service has also been a useful tool to address the problem of crowded jails.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday introduced the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bill, 2023 in Lok Sabha.
“For the first time, we are introducing community service. It is in practice in some parts, but its introduction in the Indian law is being made now,” he said.
Though there have been many instances of courts sentencing offenders to community service, no law or even guidelines are set in place that streamline such orders, which are often given as per a judge’s discretion.
In 2019, the Supreme Court ordered a doctor to plant 100 trees in a year as a punishment for attempting to commit murder at the age of 16.
In February the same year, the Delhi High Court directed Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa and four others to plant 15,000 trees, observing that they have failed to file a response on an ED appeal challenging their acquittal in the 2G case.
Experts said the move has to be thought through and then implemented.
Former IPS officer and social activist Amod Kanth said the only law where the community service is presently being effectively implemented is under the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2015. “We introduced community service as one of the dispositions in the JJ Act 2000. There are many cases where courts have given community service as one of the punishments… a reformative punishment and reformative justice can also provide something on these lines,” Kanth said.
In countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, community service is ordered either as an addition to punishment or as an alternative to other forms of punishment like imprisonment, fines or probation. The community service order also benefits the public at large and presents as a viable option not just in cases of minor offences, but also to avoid overcrowding in prisons.
Countries like Spain, Singapore, UK and Sweden are places where community service is used as an alternative to imprisonment.
Kanth said the modality of community service is very important and it can be carried out under specific kind of supervision.
“The supervision cannot be carried out by courts, but by relevant types of voluntary organisations, and the court has to decide which kind of voluntary organisations and community service. It has to be very thoughtfully implemented. The rules will be formulated after the law comes into force,” he said.
Delhi High Court judge Justice (retd) R S Sodhi said introduction of community service as a punishment for petty offences is a good thing because sending someone to jail for small issues does not help anyone.
“If the aim is to reform, public services are much better and you should try to bring that person to the mainstream,” he said.
Child rights activist Bharati Ali, however, said India which is so diverse is not ready for community service as punishment because of the demographical factors.
“So it has to be thought through. It cannot be just community service and you put someone in a situation where they are treated badly because of their class or caste.
Besides, it also has to be monitored,” she said. Ali added that community service sentence would need regular follow-ups by probation officers to roll it out.
“These are larger questions and I do not think the government has ever invested in the justice system to that extent. It is not about creating structures but resources who would do the follow-ups to the provision,” she said. PTI UZM ASG SRY SRY
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