Karnataka High Court says plea bargains do not weaken co-accused’s defence

The Karnataka High Court has held that plea bargaining by some accused persons in a criminal case does not remove the right of other accused persons to defend themselves. Justice V. Srishananda upheld a special court’s decision to accept a plea-bargaining application from four accused persons in a 2016 bank-fraud case.

The applicants included three individuals and a company. The special court convicted K.T. Venkatesh, V.V.

Vasantha Kumar, Anil Kumar and M/s Volton Agro Foods Products India Pvt Ltd for criminal conspiracy and cheating. The three individuals received simple imprisonment until the court rose and were each fined ₹1.25 lakh. The court dropped a criminal-breach-of-trust charge after noting that the borrowed amount had been repaid under a One Time Settlement scheme.

R. Chittaranjan Das, then a Central Bank of India manager and the first accused, challenged the plea-bargaining decision. Das argued that the co-accused’s admission of guilt could affect his defence because he also faced the conspiracy charge under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code.

The High Court rejected that argument, describing the apprehension as hypothetical and legally unacceptable. The court said the prosecution must independently establish the guilt of the remaining accused through cogent evidence. An admission by one group of accused persons does not discharge the prosecution from proving the allegations against others.

The High Court explained that plea bargaining is intended to reduce the prosecution’s burden and provide leniency to accused persons who voluntarily admit guilt in eligible cases. It also distinguished plea bargaining from becoming an approver under Section 306 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The ruling therefore allows some accused persons to receive plea-bargaining benefits without automatically determining the case against those who continue to contest the charges.