Question

Under the term ‘double jeopardy’ implied in clause of Article 20 of the Constitution of India, a person

• A. Convicted by a court of law cannot be punished under departmental proceedings for the same offence.
• B. Punished departmentally cannot by prosecuted in a court of law for the same offence
• C. Shall not be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once
• D. Cannot be subjected to proceedings in civil courts for disobedience of an injunction along with criminal proceedings

Answer 1

The correct option is C

Shall not be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once

The constitution of India in Article 20(2) has the principles of “autrefois convict” or Double jeopardy which means that person must not be punished twice for the offence. Thus, one cannot be tried and punished for the same crime twice. The law of the land is that there cannot be second trial for punishing an offence for which he or she has already been prosecuted or convicted earlier.

The word Jeopardy refers to the “danger” of conviction that an accused person is subjected to when one trial for a criminal offence. However, if it happens twice, it becomes double jeopardy and that is what is unconstitutional i.e. if a person is prosecuted or convicted ones cannot be punished again for that criminal act. The person gets the defense of Double Jeopardy if he is tried for the same offence in the court.Double Jeopardy principle existed in the country in the form of section 26 which states that provision as to offences punishable under two or more enactments where an act or omission constitutes an offence under two or more enactments, then the offender shall be liable to be prosecuted or punished under either or any of those enactments. However, the law clarified that he shall not be liable to be punished twice for the same offence.