Insanity Defence: A Loophole for Criminals

Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code,1860 deals the defence plea for the person of unsound mind or insane. It can be said that if the accused person have committed a crime and he proves in the court of law that he was insane during the occurence of crime then he may escape punishment. The law is open to misuse by criminals. The researcher through this article have tried to understand whether this law made years ago is serving any good at the present time or have mere become a loophole in the criminal justice system. This article deals with evolution of insanity plea, judicial perspective and other aspects regarding Section 84, IPC.