Law and Justice A Case Study

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Question 1.Correct the false statements?

• An F.I.R. is filed in the court
• Being arrested by the police is equal to being punished
• A bail is given on the basis of sureties
• Supreme Court is the apex court in the country

Answer:

• The account of the crime should be entered in the Station House Register on the basis of the FIR
• Being arrested by the police means inquiry started
• Correct
• Correct

Question 2.Describe in a table what happened in Ravis case from its first hearing and session court?

Role of witness	Punishment given	Requirement of Ravis presence
#	#	#
#	#	#
#	#	#

Answer:

#	Role of witness	Punishment given	Requirement of Ravis presence
Magistrate Court	Some withnesses are taken for one day	4 years imprisonment	Compulsory
Sessions Court	need not attend	1 year imprisonment	should attend once
High Court	need not attend	1 year imprisonment	need not attend

Question 3.In the context of the differences between a criminal and a civil case, write a sentence each about (a) punishment and jail; (b) government lawyers; (c) filing FIR?

Answer:

Subject	Criminal	Civil
Punishment and jail	In case of criminal disputes people are often punished with a jail term	In civil cases they may not be sent to jail
Government lawyers	He/She must conduct the prosecution on behalf of the state	They play no role
Filing FIR	FIR should be recorded in the concerned Police Station	No FIR is filed

Question 4.Can the Sessions or District court change the decision of a High Court? Why?

Answer: No. The decision of a High Court cannot be changed by the Sessions court or District court. These two are lower level courts to High Court

Question 5.If someone is not satisfied with the decision of a Sessions Court or a High court, what can be alone?

(Or) If she/he is dissatisfied with the decision of High Court, what can be done?

Answer: If someone is not satisfied with the decision of a Sessions court, he/she can appeal to the High Court. If she/he is dissatisfied with the decision of High Court, she/he can appeal to the Supreme Court

Question 6.What are the differences between the role of the S.H.O. and the magistrate?

Answer: S.H.O is the officer at P.S. level. Magistrate is still higher level. S.l. should present the arrested person before the Magistrate before 24 hours

Question 7.In your view, what should have been the verdict in Ravis case?

Answer: I appreciate the judgement in Ravis case. It would be better if it would have been completed earlier

Question 8.A person confessed his crime at the police station and the police locked him in jail for 6 months. Is this the correct procedure? Explain your answer?

Answer: This is not the correct procedure. He should be handed over to the court for further prosecution. The judiciary decides if the accused person is guilty or not and what punishment is to be given

Question 9.Can you identify different roles of the Executive and Judiciary given in this chapter?

Answer: The police comes under the Executive. They register cases and conduct enquiry in the initial stage. Trials, evidences of witnesses, judgement all these are the duties of Judiciary. These will not interfere in each others matter

Project

In a town called Peace Land, the supporters of the Fiesta football team learnt that the supporters of the Jubilee football team in the city about 40 km away have damaged the ground on which the final between both teams was to be held the following day. A crowd of Fiesta fans armed with deadly weapons attacked the homes of the supporters of the Jubilee football team in the town. In the attack 10 men were killed, 5 women were gravely hurt, many homes were destroyed and over 50 people injured. Imagine that you and your classmates are now part of the criminal justice system. First divide the class into the following four groups of persons?

• Police
• Public Prosecutor
• Defence lawyer
• Judge

Roles	Functions
Police	Hear the witness
#	Record the statements of the witness
#	Take photographs of burnt homes
Public Prosecutor	Record evidence
#	Arrest the Fiesta fans
#	Write the judgement
Defence lawyer	Argue the case for the victims
#	Decide for how many years the accused will be put in jail
#	Examine the witness in the court
Judge	Pass the judgement
#	Get the assaulted women medically examined
#	Conduct a fair trail
#	Meet the accused persons

The column on the right provides a list of functions. Match these with the roles that are listed on the left. Have each group pick the functions that it needs to perform to bring justice to those who were affected by the violence of the Fiesta fans. In what order, will these functions be performed

Now take the same situation and ask one student who is a supporter of the Fiesta Club to perform all the functions listed above. Do you think the victims would get justice if only one person performed all of the functions of the criminal justice system? Why not

State two reasons why you believe that different persons need to play different roles as part of the criminal justice system

Answer:

• Order of the functions

Roles	Functions
1) Police	a) Hear the witness b) Record the statements of the witness c) Take photographs of burnt homes d) Arrest the Fiesta fans
2) Public Prosecutor	a) Argue the case for the victims b) Examine the witness in the court
3) Defence lawyer	a) Meet the accused persons b) Examine the witness in the court
4) Judge	a) Conduct a fair trail b) Get the assaulted women medically examined c) Record evidence d) Decide for how many years the accused will be put in jail e) Write the judgement f) Pass the judgement

• All the functions should not be performed by only one person. The judgement will be one¬sided. So the functions should be divided. e.g.: If the fan of Fiesta performs all the functions, the judgement will be in their favour
• Two reasons
• The police enquire only primary evidences and lodges the police report
• The judiciary observes the case in all the angles and gives judgement after a clear enquiry. So these both should be different

8th Class Social Studies 15th Lesson Law and Justice: A Case Study InText Questions and Answers

Question 1.Can you write the imaginary details of Ravi and Samba as given below?

The complaint should contain ...... address and details. (Refer to Textbook on Page 173 and Page 174) (Textbook Page No. 174)

Answer:

• To The SHO Police Station - IV Town
• Criminal Complaint
• Date - 10.4.2013 Time : 8.30 A.M. Place of offence: Ravis house
• Case: Ravi beat up Samba
• Name of the accused - Ravi Gender: Male Details: Real estate broker Address: x x x x x x x x x x x
• Name of witnesses: Neighbour of Ravi, Friend of Ravi, Son of Samba
• Prayer: To punish the accused according to the law
• Signature of the complainant - Samba Address : x x x x x x x x x x Details: Peon in Co-operative Society

Question 2.Who investigated the offence and how?

(Textbook Page No. 175)

Answer: S.l. investigated the offence

In this case, the S.l. went to the village and began his investigation by examining the injuries suffered by Samba. The report of the hospital doctor established quite clearly that the injuries were serious. Then he questioned Ravis neighbours. The neighbours gave him a full account of the incident that had taken place. This established beyond doubt that Samba was assaulted and injured by Ravi.

The S.l. then went to Ravis house and informed him that he was being arrested on the charge of causing grievous injury to another person. He arrested Ravi and took him to the Mandal Police Station and questioned him there. Ravi flatly denied ever assaulting Samba. They tried hard to make Ravi accept his offence, but he stuck to his denial. Ravi was detained in the police lockup, so that he could be produced before the magistrate, the next day

Question 3.What is meant by an accused ? In this story, who is the accused ?

(Textbook Page No. 175)

Answer: Someone that has done something wrong or taken part in illegal activity is known as accused. In this story Ravi is accused

Question 4.What were the charges levelled against the accused?

(Textbook Page No. 175)

Answer: Cheating, causing grievous injury to another person - were the charges levelled against the accused

Question 5.Samba thought that the SHO arrested Ravi to punish him for the crime. Was he right?

(Textbook Page No. 175) No, he was not right. To punish is the duty of court only but not of the police. Ravi was arrested to be submitted to the court.

a) When Ravi sold Sambas plot to another person it was .. offence, (criminal or civil) ?

Answer: Civil

b) When Ravi beat up Samba it was a offence?

(criminal or civil) (Textbook Page No. 176)

Answer: Criminal

Question 6.What is an independent judiciary?

(Textbook Page No. 179)

Answer: The Legislature and the Executive cannot interfere in the work of the judiciary. The courts are not under the government and do not act on behalf of government. The police is also not part of judiciary. In this way the judiciary works independently. This is known as independent judiciary

Question 7.Fill in the table given below based on what you have understood about criminal and civil law?

(Textbook Page No. 177)

Answer:

Description of Violation	Branch of Law	Procedure to be Followed
While walking to school, a group of girls are continuously harassed by a group of boys	#	#
A tenant who is being forced to vacate files a case in court against the landlord	#	#
1) While walking to school, a group of girls are continuously harassed by a group of boys	Criminal Law	Police book a case on the group of boys. If the crime is proved, they will be sent to jail
2) A tenant who is being forced to vacate files a case in court against the landlord	Civil Law	The tenant files a case in the civil court against the landlord. Court provides relief to the tenant

Question 8.Is there any scope for political power to influence the judgement? Why?

(Textbook Page No. 179)

Answer: No. There is no scope for political power to influence the judgement. Reason: Our Constitution provided us with an independent judiciary. The Legislature and the Executive cannot interfere in the work of the judiciary. The judge also conducts the trial impartially and in an open court.

Question 9.Kranthi says, "My Father got justice but too late." Do you agree with him?

(Textbook Page No. 182)

Answer: Yes. I agree with Kranthi. It took 3 years for justice. This is not a reasonable period

Question 10.Every police station covers certain area. Find out under which particular police stations area (Jurisdiction) does your house fall?

(Page -174)

Answer: Our house falls under Satyanarayana puram Police Station, Vijayawada Urban

Question 11.Which court was hearing the case of Ravi?

(Textbook Page No. 178)

Answer: Judicial Magistrate court was hearing the case of Ravi

Question 12.What happened in the first hearing?

(Textbook Page No. 178)

Answer: The S.l. had given a copy of the FIR and the police report to Ravis lawyer so that he could know the exact charges levelled against his client. From these reports, Ravis lawyer could also know the kind of evidence that the police had collected against Ravi. All this information would enable him to prepare a defence for Ravi, who was the accused in this case. In the first hearing, the judicial magistrate accused Ravi of inflicting grievous injury to Samba. This offence, if proved, would entail imprisonment for 4 years. Ravi did not accept the charges. So, the magistrate ordered a second hearing of the case after 15 days

Question 13.What is the lawyer who deals with the case on behalf of the government called?

(Textbook Page No. 178)

Answer: Public Prosecutor, is the lawyer who deals with the case on behalf of the government called

Question 14.Identify the location of these courts for your area with the help of your teacher?

(Textbook Page No. 180)

Answer: Our district court is in Machilipatnam and High Court is in Hyderabad

Question 15.Why did they wait for the SHO / S.l. to return? If you were to file such a report, what would you write in it?

(Textbook Page No. 174)

Answer: SHO/S.I. is the head of the police station. To record the F.I.R. his presence is must. So they waited for him. If I were to file such a report, I would write all the issues in the report like- What happened? How did it happen? Who was the accused? etc, I would write their names, witnesses names, and their addresses etc

Question 16.Why do you think it is important for the person who makes an FIR to take a copy of the report?

(Textbook Page No. 174)

Answer: The complaint should have the acknowledgement for his complaint. After the F.I.R. is filed it becomes the duty of the police to investigate and solve the problem

Question 17.What is a Fair Trial? Is it necessary? Why? Discuss?

(Textbook Page No. 178)

Answer: The rule of law says that everyone is equal before the law. Before deciding if someone is guilty she/he will be allowed to a fair and impartial public hearing. Criminal prosecution starts with presumption of innocence and the guilt must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. This kind of trial is known as Fair Trial. It is necessary. If the trial is not fair, the victims may lose their confidence in the judiciary. This confidence only leads the people to judiciary

Question 18.Discuss why is it necessary to hear the evidences given by the witnesses in any case?

(Textbook Page No. 180)

Answer: In any case the victims and the accused, support their own words in the court. So the truth may be under cover. Being third person, the witnesses uncover these truths. So it is neces¬sary to hear the evidences given by them in any case

Question 19.Can you think of the reasons why the sessions court may have reduced Ravis punishment?

(Textbook Page No. 181)

Answer: In any country the penal code is to change the attitude of the accused. The district magistrate court imposed an imprisonment of 4 years. Then he appealed to the sessions court. It took 2 years for judgement in this court. He spent half of his punishment period awaiting court decision. There is a chance of change in the behaviour of any person. So the court considered all these issues and reduced his punishment to one year

Question 20.High Court does not summon the accused or witnesses before it. Why?

(Textbook Page No. 182)

Answer: The accused and witnesses are all appeared before the court at lower level. So it is not necessary to attend before the High Court. So it does not summon them

Question 21.Imagine that there is a big company cutting down forest and tribal cutting wood for fuel. Is impartiality a good thing? Debate?

(Textbook Page No. 179)

Answer: The tribals have natural right on forest. So they can be permitted to cut wood. They do no harm to the forests. So we can support the tribals. Cutting down forest by a big company is an illegal activity. So we cannot suppoi; them

Question 22.The structure of the court from lower to highest level resembles a pyramid. Can you fill the information about it in a diagram?

(Textbook Page No. 180)

Answer: