Daily Mains Question – GS 2 – 22nd August 2025

Welcome to your Daily UPSC Mains Answer Writing Practice – GS Paper 2 (Polity & Governance – Judiciary). Today’s discussion examines the objectives of civil and criminal law in India’s judicial framework, highlighting how both serve distinct purposes while ensuring balance between rights enforcement and crime deterrence. The recent interventions by the Supreme Court in cases where criminal proceedings were initiated for civil disputes underline the importance of maintaining this distinction.

For UPSC aspirants, this topic is highly relevant under GS Paper 2 themes:

• Separation of powers and Judicial Processes

• Functions and responsibilities of the Union and States in justice delivery

• Role of Judiciary in upholding constitutional morality and rule of law

• Issues of delay and pendency in Indian courts

As civil law focuses on resolving private disputes through remedies and criminal law aims at punishment and deterrence against offences, understanding their interplay is essential for writing balanced answers in GS Paper 2 on justice, governance, and constitutional principles.

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QUESTION

Distinguish between the objectives of civil and criminal law within India’s judicial framework. How does the judiciary ensure that disputes of a civil nature are not wrongly pursued through criminal proceedings?

Answer: The Supreme Court of India has recently intervened in cases where High Courts allowed criminal proceedings in matters essentially civil in nature. This highlights the critical importance of understanding the distinction between civil law and criminal law within India’s judicial framework. Both domains operate under different objectives, procedures, and standards of proof, forming the backbone of India’s legal system.

Civil Law: Objectives and Characteristics

1. Purpose: Civil law primarily aims to resolve disputes between private individuals or organisations. Its focus is not punishment but the restoration of rights.

2. Nature of Cases: Civil disputes typically relate to property ownership, breach of contract, family law issues (divorce, child custody), or monetary recovery.

3. Remedies: Relief is granted through:

   • Damages (monetary compensation).

   • Injunctions (orders directing parties to perform or refrain from specific actions).

4. Parties Involved: The case is filed by a plaintiff against a defendant.

5. Burden of Proof: Civil disputes are decided on a preponderance of probabilities—the plaintiff must prove that their version of facts is more likely to be true.

Criminal Law: Objectives and Characteristics

1. Purpose: Criminal law deals with actions considered as offences against the state or society at large. The aim is punishment and deterrence.

2. Nature of Cases: Includes offences like theft, cheating, assault, homicide, or fraud.

3. Parties Involved: The State, represented by a prosecutor, initiates proceedings against the accused.

4. Punishments: Range from fines and imprisonment to capital punishment in extreme cases.

5. Burden of Proof: Requires proof beyond reasonable doubt—a higher threshold reflecting the gravity of punishment and potential loss of liberty.

Key Distinctions Between Civil and Criminal Law

Aspect	Civil Law	Criminal Law
Objective	Compensation & rights enforcement	Punishment & deterrence
Parties	Plaintiff vs Defendant	State vs Accused
Burden of Proof	Preponderance of probabilities	Beyond reasonable doubt
Relief/Punishment	Damages, injunctions	Imprisonment, fines, death penalty
Examples	Property disputes, family matters, contracts	Theft, murder, cheating, assault

Overlap Between Civil and Criminal Dimensions

• Certain acts may trigger both civil wrongs and criminal offences.

• Example: Breach of contract may be civil in nature, but if entered with fraudulent intent, it may also constitute criminal cheating.

• The Supreme Court has clarified that unless there is evidence of criminal intent at the outset, proceedings should remain civil.

Judicial Data and Timelines

• One reason litigants sometimes misuse criminal law is the delay in civil cases.

• According to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) (as of 2025):

  • 70% of criminal trials in district courts are disposed of within one year.

  • Only around 38% of civil suits are resolved in the same period.

• This disparity often incentivises litigants to frame disputes as criminal to secure quicker judicial action.

Civil and criminal law represent two pillars of India’s judicial system, serving distinct objectives. Civil law ensures enforcement of rights and remedies, while criminal law upholds order and deters wrongdoing. The courts must maintain this distinction to prevent misuse of criminal proceedings in civil disputes. At the same time, expediting civil litigation through judicial reforms is necessary to reduce dependency on criminal processes for civil wrongs.