1. Write down the theories of Punishment.

Introduction:
Punishment is one of the most prominent features of the criminal justice
system of the nations around the globe. Every society has certain basic rules
which are to be observed for governing the society and every society has
prescribed measures to be taken when such rules are violated. Such
measures are commonly known as punishment which we can say imposition
of deprivation upon the offender by withholding the rights which a person is
entitled to. There are several theories which guide the concept of
punishment and they can be summarized in the following manner:
Deterrent Theory:
The deterrent theory of punishment draws its inspiration from the theory of
hedonism which says that an individual can be prevented from commuting
an offence if punishment inflicted on him is severe, certain and swift. The
theory of hedonism was propounded by Jeremy Bentham.
The primary objective of deterrent theory of punishment is to deter an
individual from committing an offence and/or to prevent him from repeating
the same crime. According to this theory, the punishment so inflicted on the
offender can act as deterrence to the future offenders and it must create a
sense of fear in the minds of likeminded people.
According to this theory there must be a nexus between the offence
committed and punishment inflicted for the same on the offender and while
inflictions of punishment following things are required to be taken into
consideration:
1. Seriousness of the offence:
When a punishment is to be inflicted on the offender, then the seriousness
of the offence has to be taken into consideration.
2. Impact on the General Public:
The punishment is to be inflicted in such a manner so that it creates a
sense of fear in the minds of likeminded people and to see whether the
society as a whole is learning something from it or not.
5. Impact on the victim and the perpetrator:
The consequences of the punishment so inflicted on the offender are to be
taken into consideration and at the same time impact on the victim
concerning the same must be taken into consideration.
In the case of ‘State of Himachal Pradesh v. Nirmala Devi’ the Court held that
when the offence committed against society is serious and heinous in
nature, then in that punishment is preferably to be inflicted abiding by the
deterrent theory with a view to deter the prospective offenders.
Criticism:
1. The primary objective of the infliction of punishment is to deter the
offender from repeating the commission of same offence and/or prevent him
from criminality but the theory has failed to serve its purpose in many ways
such as even after infliction of punishment the rate of crimes in society is
not reduced at all, rather it is increasing day by day, so it does not create a
sense of fear in the minds of the people.
2. the most interesting fact is excessive harshness of punishment defeats its
purpose by arousing public sympathy towards the person so punished.
3. once the punishment is implemented it loses its essence.
4. it does not give the offender a chance to be reformed.

Preventive Theory:
The propounders of the preventive theory are of opinion that the primary
objective of the punishment is to prevent the commission of offences. Based
on this theory we can say that commission of the offences can be prevented
if the offenders are prevented from doing so. The offenders can be prevented
from involving into notorious activities if they are disabled. It is also known
as theory of disablement. The forms of disablement can be shaped by
legislations. However under the Islamic law there we can find the concept of
disablement through amputation of some part of the body. Death penalty
can be said to be based on preventive theory where the elimination of the
offender from the society prevents the commission of the offense.
There is no difference as such between the deterrent theory and preventive
theory. We can say that they are two aspects of the same thing. The former
attempts to deter the offenders or likeminded people from repeating the
same offence or from criminality and the latter prevent the commission of
the offence. Hence it is better to merge both theories into one and name the
same as preventive deterrent theory.
Criticism:
The penologists and jurists who are not in favour of the preventive theory
has opined that creating a sense of fear in the minds of the offender or
people in the society and to prevent the commission of the offences through
infliction punishment has not been proved to be an effective method for
lowering the rate of crimes because the theory does not address the root
cause responsible for the criminal behavior.
Expiatory Theory:
Expiatory theory is based on morality and penance says that repentance
and atonement of the offender is a form of punishment. The theory believes
in cleansing the mind and heart through repentance, atonement.
This is one of the most celebrated theories of ancient India’s criminal
jurisprudence and it holds a position of high respect in the Manusmriti. But
with the advancement of society the theory became impractical. Relying
solely on the theory is very risky for the safety and security of the
community.
The theory believes in fact that the offender should pay compensation and
provide the victim with restitution but the theory opposes the concept of
physical pain to be suffered by the offender for the offence committed by
him.
Criticism:
In the present era of materialism and precedence where the people are busy
in justifying their actions in different manner, expiatory theory of
punishment is not very effective and the same may be effective in trivial and
minor offences but when it comes to heinous offences it must not have any
application.
Retributive Theory:
from assignment
Reformative Theory:
from assignment
Conclusion:
In conclusion we can say that each of these theories is not complete in itself
and every theory is connected with the other. Earlier the criminal justice
administration was governed by the theory of retribution through which
punishment was inflicted on the offender equal to the extent of the harm
caused by him but gradually the criminal justice system around the globe
has adopted the concept of reformative theory which aims at the reformation
and rehabilitation of the offenders.