High Courts Must Check S. 313 CrPC/S.351 BNSS Compliance At Earliest To Avoid Acquittals: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court today (April 22) flagged concern about the acquittal of the accused in cases where the prosecution's vital evidence is not presented to the accused to afford him an opportunity to explain the allegations labelled against him.To address this legal defect, the Court recommended that High Courts must adopt a proactive approach by checking compliance of Section 313 Cr.P.C. at the outset of the criminal appeals and remanding the matter to the trial court for complying with the provision if there is a lapse.The Court observed that such a step could help conserve judicial time and prevent accused persons from later claiming in appeal against conviction that they were not allowed to respond to the incriminating evidence. It further noted that the defect becomes incurable after a significant lapse of time, making it impractical to remand the case to the trial court years later solely to record statements under Section 313. “There are several criminal appeals which come to this Court where we find that vital prosecution evidence is not put to the accused in statement under Section 313 of the CrPC. The Court becomes helpless, as due to the long lapse of time, the defect cannot be cured by passing an order of remand.”, the Court observed. “When an appeal against conviction is preferred before the High Court, at the earliest stage, the High Court must examine whether there is a proper statement of the accused recorded under Section 313 of CrPC (Section 351 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023). If any defect is found, at that stage, the same can be cured either by High Court recording further statement or by directing the Trial Court to record. If this approach is adopted, the argument of delay and prejudice will not be available to the accused.”, the court added. Background The aforesaid observation came by a bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka, Pankaj Mithal, and Ahsanuddin Amanullah while deciding an appeal against the acquittal of an accused by the High Court in a murder case for killing his wife and three daughters. During the hearing, an argument was made by the Respondent No.2-accused that his acquittal shouldn't be interfered with because crucial evidence was not presented to him during the trial to offer him an explanation about the allegations labelled against him. The Court noted that prima facie the accused's argument looks attractive, after noting that the High Court's finding of acquitting him was based on other discrepancies (other than violation of Section 313 CrPC because dying declaration was held inadmissible), it approved the acquittal. The Courts must ensure all material evidence is put to the accused for explanation, the court said. Earlier, the bench led by Justice Oka asked the Judicial Academies to take note of the default committed by the judicial officers, omitting to record Section 313 statements rendering the trial ineffective. The Court ruled that while recording the statement under Section 313 of CrPC in cases involving a large number of prosecution witnesses, the Judicial Officers should take benefit of Section 313 (5) of CrPC, which will ensure that the chances of committing errors and omissions are minimized.Shubhranshu Padhi, Amicus Curiae, assisted by Jay Nirupam, Pranav Giri, D Girish Kumar and Ekansh Sisodia assisted the Court.Case Title: Aejaz Ahmad Sheikh versus State of Uttar Pradesh & Anr.Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 456Click here to read/download the judgmentRelated : Supreme Court Laments Trial Judges Not Using Section 313(5) CrPC; Asks Judicial Academies To Take Notice

High Courts Must Check S. 313 CrPC/S.351 BNSS Compliance At Earliest To Avoid Acquittals: Supreme Court

Yash Mittal

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