New
Delhi, 16 March, 2026 : Mr. R. Venkataramani, Attorney General for
India, called for a new framework for plea bargaining based on social,
cultural, economic theories and practices at the inaugural session of the
seminar on “Delivering Justice in Time: Global Practices and Indian
Experiences”, jointly organised by O.P. Jindal Global University and the
National Law University Delhi.
“Plea
bargaining is becoming universal. There’s a new need for a national protocol
for plea bargaining, a national protocol which can be evolved and which can, in
a very healthy way, advise, guide and counsel practitioners as well as victims
of justice, so that the protocol can work in a more transparent and objective
way. The legal and civil authority should be prepared to play important roles.
The Chief Justice of India has consented to have a strong internal discussion
on it. Existing legal mechanisms will also be made ready to look with a new
lens and that there is concession for the defense and the resource management
for the state. The resource management for the state is not only relevant for
the plea bargaining aspect. It is resource value for the state, essentially,
like an economic principle which should run through the entire administration
of justice. This is why I have been thinking about a National Institute for
Criminal Justice Administration which will also have an everyday index where we
watch the measurement and performance. Those who practice in the trial court
will find out how painful it is for people to simply waste their resources for
governments, institutions, people, lawyers and judges as well as time!” he
said.
“A Legal Health Index is important for our country. The Legal Health Index will probably identify factors which will include preventative and predictable procedures, the ease of justice, what roles each one of us can play and what kind of resources’ investment that we require. Therefore, a Legal Health Index should be properly conceived, identified and then operationalized. And who should do that? I do not think it needs to be necessarily in the hands of governance institutions but it is a role for law schools and universities in conceiving and maintaining the Legal Health Index. It’s important also for the community to get intellectually involved and to give a different point of view,” the Attorney General added.
In
his Keynote Address, Dr. Abhishek M. Singhvi, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of
India & Member of Parliament, spoke about the large
pendency of cases in India. “It is the paradox of India’s legal system, capable
of producing some of the world’s most sophisticated jurisprudence, while
simultaneously struggling with a massive backlog of cases. We need to deal with
the ‘ABCD’—the access, backlog, cost and delay issues, and the obvious step is
to appoint court judges. We need to fill judicial vacancies, adopt multi-track
case management systems, resolve very old cases through dedicated mechanisms,
strengthen mediation and revive Gram Nyayalayas, and improve coordination
across courts, police and prisons. We need a synergy and focus to deal with the
high number of pending cases which is also holistic. We need a curative and
preventive approach and unconventional in a bold, new methodology to address
the issue. The other extreme, which is a big failure, is arbitration. Arbitration
has become pre-litigation litigation which is just adding one more separate
limb to the process but the reality is that there are not enough trained
mediators and this needs to be addressed on a war footing. There is also the
issue of human infrastructure. The criminal law justice system includes the
criminal hearing judge, the police and the prison staff and all these have to
be synergically coordinated.” He also called for reconsidering the retirement
age disparity between High Courts and the Supreme Court and emphasized
long-term consistency in reform implementation.
In
his Welcome Address, Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, O.P.
Jindal Global University, emphasized that the rule of law depends not
only on constitutional design or legal doctrine but on the ability of
institutions to deliver justice in a timely, fair and effective manner. “I
highlight India’s pendency crisis—with over 5 crore pending cases—where there
is a need for systemic reforms and I propose five pillars for transforming
justice delivery: These include: strengthening judicial capacity; procedural
reform and active case management; technology and artificial intelligence in
courts; expansion of plea bargaining and pre-trial mechanisms; and data-driven
justice governance.” Dr. Raj Kumar lauded the collaboration between National
Law University Delhi, Jindal Global Law School, and O.P. Jindal Global
University. He expressed the intention to expand the seminar into a nationwide
series of discussions across multiple cities and states with the aim of
building collective consciousness and momentum around the urgent need for
timely and effective justice delivery in India.
A
message was also conveyed from the Hon’ble Minister of State for Law and
Justice, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, who was unable to attend due to official
responsibilities, along with his keen interest in the outcomes of the seminar.
It was noted that a comprehensive report of the deliberations would be shared
with him for possible follow-up discussions.
Prof.
(Dr.) G.S. Bajpai, Vice Chancellor, National Law University Delhi, reflected
on the deeper meaning of the seminar’s theme: “Justice in Time.” He cautioned
that speed alone does not equal justice. True legitimacy in the justice system,
he noted, depends on fairness, transparency and procedural integrity. He called
for an empirical evaluation of the timelines introduced in India’s new criminal
laws and emphasized the need to strengthen victim justice frameworks,
continuous legal aid from early stages, and a coherent national sentencing
policy.
The
event led to a day-long seminar with several sessions which included:
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; Mr. Tanveer Ahmed Mir; Mr. Sanjiv Sen; Mr. Maninder Singh,
Senior Advocates, Supreme Court of India, with Professor Shireen Moti,
Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School, and Dr. Garima Tiwari, Associate
Professor, National Law University Delhi. Other sessions included: Dr. Aprajita
Bhatt, Associate Professor, National Law University Delhi; Mr. Aryan Grover,
Founder & CEO, Vetoai, Technologies Bharat Ltd.; Prof. Paavni Jain,
Assistant Director, Cyril Shroff Centre For AI, Law & Regulation, Jindal
Global Law School; Ms. Geeta Luthra, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India;
Mr. 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
Ms. 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 Mr. Satvik Varma, Senior Advocate,
Supreme Court of India; moderated by Ms. Priyanshi Singh, Academic Fellow,
National Law University Delhi.
The
Introductory Remarks were given by Prof. Aparna Babu George, Assistant
Professor, Jindal Global Law School, and the Vote of Thanks was delivered by
Prof. Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, Registrar, O.P. Jindal Global University.