CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION: The Relay Race for Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice Administration originates on the track point of law and terminates at the prison doors from where the criminal is redelivered to the society. The legislators, the policemen, the advocates, the judges and the prision managers make their cumulative contributions through a coordinated network of law and legal procedures to save the society from the scourge of crime.

The study analytically examines the critical issues that bedevil the varied areas of criminal justice system in India. The author takes an organic look at the total system and quite meaningfully identifies the pathologies and discoordinations obtained in the criminal justice procedures. The broad frame of accusatory philosophy of Anglo-Saxon criminal justice has been kept in sight to delve deep into the mystique and the mundane. The segmental conflicts and the institutional arrogance, characterizing the ‘holier than thou’ approach, have been highlighted to underline the shared incompetence of the disjointed system. The study very unconventionally strives to examine the checkpoints and ultimately evolves an agenda for public debate to create a national consensus for reforms in future.

Based on a highly painstaking scientific research, the study represents a refreshingly bold and independent academic point of view. It stirs ideas, kindles imagination and stimulates the entire thought process in an area, which is opaque and does not relish free, frank and open public criticism. Pleading for innovation and change, the study rationally argues to reorganize the dysfunctional structures in the wake of democratic change pressures of overwhelming nature. The readers will find a host of unpalatable ideas, facts and suggestions in the study as highly provocative and still more challenging to redesign the system.

The study merits attention of administrators, policy planners and academics for its meaningful explorations in an extremely explosive area of public interest.