Plea Bargaining is the central feature of modern criminal justice system. It is also known as Pre-trial settlement, plea discussions, plea negotiations, resolution discussion etc. In its most traditional and general sense, “plea bargaining” refers to pre-trial negotiations between the defendant, usually conducted by the counsel and the prosecution, during which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for certain concessions by the prosecutor. The concept of plea-bargaining is an alternative remedy to the long and tortuous process of trial in courts which has been introduced to ensure speedy disposal of cases and to reduce congestion in prisons.
Plea bargaining is a contract with the state wherein the defendant agrees to settle a case with certain guidelines and conditions and agrees to plead guilty to a lesser crime and receive a lesser sentence rather than to go to trial on a more severe charge where he faces the possibility of harsher sentences.
Wikipedia, defines the term as “a plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case in which a Prosecutor and a defendant arrange to settle the case against the defendant. The defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest (and often in exchange for some agreement from the prosecutor as to the punishment. A plea bargain can also include the prosecutor agreeing to charge a lesser crime, and dismissing some of the charges against the defendant.” Thus when analyze with this general meaning, there can be two kind of plea bargaining, one is of bargaining as to the charge and other is as to the punishment.
When an offender is charged with aggravated assault/ battery, on his alleged conduct in a public street by associating a street fight, the offender before the Trial Court may voluntarily opt for a lesser charge of simple assault/battery or for a disorderly conduct in Public Street and the Court can award punishment for the lesser charge. This kind of bargaining is plea bargaining as to charges. In