Chahat Paneri, Amity Law School, AUMP, Gwalior
ABSTRACT
There are many aspects of the Indian Legal System which provide protection to one’s dignity and rights in a manner that is legally recognised. This is termed as “defence”. Defence is a way of dealing with various social distinctions among the people and at the same time, accommodating the needs of all such distinctive people, at times, which is misused by them for their own benefits. One such defence provided by the law is Insanity Defence. Insanity is dealt-with in Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. A more comprehensive term, “unsoundness of mind” has been used in this section of IPC. The question which arises herein is that how apposite is this defence when it comes to the matters of Criminal cases and whether it is used under authentic circumstances or is a mere channel to salvage the guilty?
Keywords: Insanity defence, unsoundness of mind, McNaughten’s rules.
Comments