Dear Friends,

I would like to extend warm welcome you to today’s Vimarsh event in which we will be releasing the VIF’s latest publication Criminal Justice System: My Experiences and the Way Forward by Advocate Davinder Pal Singh Ji.

Sh. Davinder Pal Singh is Distinguished Fellow with the VIF. He is a lawyer with more than 30 years experience in practicing in Criminal Law. He was Additional Advocate General of the Haryana and Punjab states whom he represented before the High court and Supreme Court. He has led prominent trials both as defence council as well as a special prosecutor. He has also represented the CBI and ED as a prosecutor in several sensitive and high profile cases.

I am grateful to Sh. Davinder Pal Singh Ji for having accepted our suggestion to write this book and narrate his experiences.

The strong point of the book is that it looks at the Indian Criminal Justice system from the viewpoint of nine stakeholders as case progresses from investigation to pre-trial proceedings to trial and post-trial pages.

The book provides an understanding of the existing legal framework in India. It highlights the shortcomings of the system. The experience of those involved in criminal cases is, to see the least, traumatic. The author also gives several suggestions to improve the health of the criminal justice system which is highly stressed at the present moment.

This concise but lucidly written book is accessible to the lay readers. After reading the book I was left with the distinct impression that as India’s global stature grows, the rule of law in the area of criminal justice is reducing. Judicial reform must be made a priority in India’s renewal in the 21 century.

We will formally release the book. I request Sh. DC Mathur, Senior Advocate, Sh. RS Cheema, Senior Advocate and the publisher Mr Arya to kindly release the book.