How withdrawal from prosecutions has become a political escape hatch
- Sanjay Hegde
- Updated: Nov 27, 2025, 20:25 IST IST
The Uttar Pradesh government’s recent attempt to withdraw from the Mohammed Akhlaq lynching case is telling. It is a move that tries to transform a national trauma into a disposable prosecution
The plea of nolle prosequi [a legal term for a prosecutor's formal decision to drop or dismiss criminal charges against a defendant] began as a practical tool. It allowed prosecutors to step back when evidence faded or when pushing ahead no longer served justice. It was never meant to become a political escape hatch. Yet in India, the idea that became Section 321 of the old Code of Criminal Procedure, and now Section 360 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), has slowly drifted from a safeguard to a convenient lever for those in power.
