Public Prosecutor As A 'Minister Of Justice': A Doctrinal Analysis Anchored In Himachal Pradesh's Prosecution Manual, 2008
Dr. Vandana Thakur, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Laws, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
Sarvshresth Paras Dohroo, Research Scholar, Faculty of Laws, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
ABSTRACT
The conceptualisation of the Public Prosecutor (PP) as a 'Minister of Justice' is a cornerstone of adversarial criminal jurisprudence, mandating that the prosecutor's primary allegiance is to the court and the cause of justice, not to the police or to the victim's desire for retribution. Despite its doctrinal solidity in Indian constitutional courts, the operationalisation of this principle is often left to the unexamined discretion of the prosecutorial executive. This paper undertakes a doctrinal analysis of the Himachal Pradesh Prosecution Manual, 2008, a rare and publicly available codification of prosecutorial conduct, to assess whether it translates the 'minister of justice' ideal into enforceable institutional norms. Through a close reading of the Manual, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), and Supreme Court jurisprudence spanning 2014 to 2026, the paper evaluates four critical dimensions: pre-trial evidence scrutiny, the withdrawal of prosecution under Section 359 BNSS, the duty of disclosure, and institutional independence from the police. The analysis reveals that while the Manual incorporates several progressive standards, such as mandatory legal scrutiny of charge sheets and independent withdrawal decisions, it lacks statutory force and remains vulnerable to executive override. The paper argues that for the PP to truly function as a minister of justice, the principles embedded in manuals such as Himachal Pradesh's must be elevated to statutory guidelines, ensuring accountability through transparent reasoning and judicial oversight. The conclusion proposes a set of best practices that bridge the gap between normative ideals and institutional reality.
Keywords: Public Prosecutor, Minister of Justice, Himachal Pradesh Prosecution Manual, BNSS 2023, Prosecutorial Ethics
