Is proposed Section 78B of FA, 1994unconstitutional?

Article 20(1) of the Constitution of India provides that “no person shall be convicted of any offence except for violation of the law in force at the time of the commission of the act charged as an offence, nor be subjected to a penalty greater than that which might have been inflicted under the law in force at the time of the commission of the offence ”. In the present situation, while, as per section 78B, in the transitional phase provisions of proposed sections 76 and 78 shall apply, this cannot be said to be unconstitutional since the penalty in such cases under proposed sections 76 and 78 is likely to be lesser than imposable under the earlier sections 76 and 78. However, the author's contention finds force from the case of Ravinder Singh v. State of Himachal Pradesh (AIR 2010 SC 199) which has held that the sentence imposable on the date of commission of the offence has to determine the sentence imposable on completion of trial. Apparently, following the the Apex Court decision, even the benefit of smaller penalties cannot be given.

Suhrid Bhatnagar 01/03/2015