The move to identify reform areas is important, more so because the new criminal laws lost the opportunity to reform plea bargaining. 4 min read May 11, 2026 06:58 AM IST First published on: May 11, 2026 at 06:13 AM IST The Union Home Ministry’s decision to convene a multi-stakeholder conference to review the reforms required for the consistently failing system of plea bargaining in India is laudable. Plea bargaining is a pre-trial, negotiated agreement in which the accused admits to a lesser charge or accepts a reduced sentence . It applies to offences with penalties of less than seven years. In several countries, this system is a major means of decongesting the criminal justice system. While India uses plea bargaining at very low levels, of less than 1 per cent, in the US, approximately 90-95 per cent of criminal cases are resolved through plea bargaining. In Canada, the figure is around 85-90 per cent. In Australia, about 80-90 per cent of cases end in such pleas.…