Hii Budding lawyers, Prasanna Naidu here.
In this video we will have a quick look to a
web series named “Criminal Justice”.
which is streaming on Hotstar
After you watch the trailer, you will get
some idea about the story.
There is this guy named Aditya who is accused
of Rape & Murder of a woman.
The accused looks innocent and has a good
background but obviously one needs strong
evidence to prove that he is not guilty.
But, there are so many movies & series with
such stories, so why have I chosen to make
a video on this web series and not others?
See, I am not a film critic so I am not going
to talk about the cast, acting, direction, etc.
But, there is a reason behind making this video.
As I was watching this series, I realised
that they have portrayed the courts & its
procedures not in a Bollywood style or in a
fancy manner.
But, what they have shown is very relatable to real courts & its procedures.
Which can be very helpful & interesting for
young lawyers who have just stepped into this
field and to all law students.
Now, WHY can it be so interesting & helpful??
I will talk about some incidents from the
series from which you can determine that and
then decide to watch it or no.
Officials like the police officers, public
prosecutor, forensics, etc. seem quite realistic,
their get up, their acting, etc.
Mita Vashisht aka Adv.
Mandira Mathur is shown as a reputed Senior
counsel & Anupriya Goenka aka Nikhat Hussain
as her Junior lawyer.
And Pankaj Tripathi aka Adv.
Madhav Mishra is shown as that kind of a lawyer
who is struggling to get Cases, surrounded
with petty matters and hence indulging in
jhols for their survival.
The main thing which I liked was that they
have shown the distinction between a senior
counsel, a junior lawyer and a low profile
court lawyer very well.
They have shown those conversations between
Police & lawyers which they usually have,
profession favours, their settings.
Have you not observed how some lawyers get
most of the Cases from a particular police
station?
How do they get it?
Well you know it…
Mishra is shown as one of those lawyers.
First Courtroom scene starts in the second
episode.
Set is good, with small courtrooms, stacks
of files everywhere, a judge with its stenographer
& other court staff, not as shown in most
Bollywood movies..
This one looks very much like a real Indian
court.
As we all know, that every person who is arrested
by the police must be presented before the
Magistrate within 24 hrs.
So, the protagonist in the series - Adtiya
after being caught by the police with prima
facie evidence for Rape & Murder is taken
to the Magistrate Court.
The Investigating Officer presents the Arrest memo
And asks for a date, seeking time for investigation.
Argument between I.O. & accused's 
Adv. Mishra goes on...
The I.O. argues that Evidence can
be tampered & Bail jumping may take place
if you are into criminal litigation, you know
that such grounds are quite common.
Tripathi tries to defend, saying the accused
doesn't even have a passport so how can he
jump Bail.
These words Remand, Arrest memo, Bail jump are used which are not usually used in movies.
The Magistrate orders for Police custody/remand for 14 days.
Accused's lawyer Mr. Mishra is shown to be
just after money and justice for his client
is his secondary priority. Until Adv. Mandira Mathur takes his place.
His role is quite interesting and looking
at his character one can understand how such
lawyers despite having struggle for getting
Cases make decent amount of money.
On one hearing in ep.5, it starts by calling
the name of the case….
“PW/469780/2018” which I was not expecting,
because usually in movies they just call as
“Case No….!!”.
For those who don’t know, PW means Police
Warrant case.
Also the IPC sections 302,354D,449,353,354,376A.
Under which Aditya was booked were also the
exact sections under Indian Penal Code.
So, I just want to point out that they have
researched well and also paid good attention
to minute details.
There are many other things which they have
covered like -
How Judges get oftenly changed?
How the police use different tactics to strengthen
their case?
How young inmates get sodomised in a Jail.
And other things too showing the dark side
of an indian jail.
Exploitation done by local hawaldars.
Other sufferings of his Parents, Sister...financial,
societal, etc.
One thing I would like to point is...Closing
arguments also know as final arguments were
given by Aditya himself, who is the accused.
I’am not sure if this is correct or no.
What do you think?
Is it procedurally correct for an Accused
to submit his closing arguments himself and
not through a lawyer??
Tell me your answers in the comments below.
So, as a whole if I look at it I would say
it that this web series is worth watching
especially for all newcomers in this field.
It is interesting and you will enjoy it too.
Yeah, there may be some small mistakes…but
we can understand that...as they are actors
and not lawyers.
But, if you find any such mistakes then do
mention it in the comments below.
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Will see you in the next video, till then
bye bye..!!
