The administration of justice system in criminal law needs to be evaluated as a whole and not its components separately, any act or omission punishable by any existing law is called offence. Offences with element of force or moral turpitude are generally termed as crimes. Crime puts life, liberty, dignity and property of the people in danger and creates law and order problems. The law and order problem may spread its wings to disturb public peace and bring normal civic life to a grinding halt. This may, sometimes, pose a threat even to national security. Thus, crime is not just a concern of the victim or the criminal justice authorities; the hidden potential in it may harm the whole society or even the nation. In other words, crime undermines the ‘rule of law’ and thus digs out the very root of democracy as in most of the democratic countries, crimes are considered as injuries to the State.

Keywords: Criminal law; Punishable; Democracy