Supreme Court Monthly Criminal Digest: December 2022

Code of Criminal Procedure 1973; Section 319 - Power has to be excercised before the conclusion of the trial, which means before the pronouncement of the judgment. (Para 33) Sukhpal Singh Khaira v. State of Punjab, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 1009 Code of Criminal Procedure 1973; Section 319 - Supreme Court Constitution Bench issues elaborate guidelines on the exercise of powers to summon additional accused. (Para 33) Sukhpal Singh Khaira v. State of Punjab, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 1009 Code of Criminal Procedure 1973; Section 319 - The power under Section 319 of Cr.P.C. is to be invoked and exercised before the pronouncement of the order of sentence where there is a judgment of conviction of the accused. In the case of acquittal, the power should be exercised before the order of acquittal is pronounced. Hence, the summoning order has to precede the conclusion of trial by imposition of sentence in the case of conviction. (Para 33) Sukhpal Singh Khaira v. State of Punjab, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 1009 Code of Criminal Procedure 1973; Section 319 - The trial court has the power to summon additional accused when the trial is proceeded in respect of the absconding accused after securing his presence, subject to the evidence recorded in the split up (bifurcated) trial pointing to the involvement of the accused sought to be summoned. But the evidence recorded in the main concluded trial cannot be the basis of the summoning order if such power has not been exercised in the main trial till its conclusion. (Para 33) Sukhpal Singh Khaira v. State of Punjab, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 1009 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Chapter VIII; Section 107,117 - The provisions of Chapter VIII are merely preventive in nature and are not to be used as a vehicle for punishment - The object of furnishing security and/or executing a bond under Chapter VIII is not to augment the state exchequer but to avoid any possible breach of peace for maintaining public peace and tranquillity - The Magistrate while ordering security under Section 117 has to take into consideration the status and position of the person to decide the quantum of security/bond; and cannot alter the purpose of the provisions from preventive to punitive by imposing heavy quantum of security/bond, which a person might be unable to pay. The demand of excessive and arbitrary amount of security/bond stultifies the spirit of Chapter VIII of the Code, which remains impermissible. (Para 11-12) Istkar v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 1000 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Chapter XVII - Objects of provisions regarding framing of charge - To make the accused aware of the accusations against him on the basis of which the prosecution is seeking to convict him - Accused should be in a position to effectively defend himself. An accused can properly defend himself provided he is clearly informed about the nature of the allegations against him before the actual trial starts. (Para 16-17) Kalicharan v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 1027 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Section 107 - The scope and nature of Section 107 CrPC is preventive and not punitive - It aims at ensuring that there be no breach of peace and that the public tranquillity be not disturbed by any wrongful or illegal act. The action being preventive in nature is not based on any overt act but is intended to forestall the potential danger to serve the interests of public at large. (Para 11) Istkar v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 1000 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Section 190, 200 - The second complaint can be maintainable in exceptional circumstances, depending upon the manner in which the first complaint came to be dismissed. To say it differently, if the first complaint was dismissed without venturing into the merits of the case or on a technical ground and/or by returning a reasoning which can be termed as perverse or absurd in law, and/or when the essential foundation of second complaint is based upon such set of facts which were either not in existence at the time when the first complaint was filed or the complainant could not have possibly lay his hands to such facts at that time, an exception can be made to entertain the second complaint. (Para 14) B.R.K Aathithan v. Sun Group, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 1022 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Section 204 - The application of judicial mind and arriving at an erroneous conclusion are two distinct things. The Court even after due application of mind may reach to an erroneous conclusion and such an order is always justiciable before a superior Court. Even if the said Order is set aside, it does not mean that the trial court did not apply its mind. (Para 16) B.R.K Aathithan v. Sun Group, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 1022 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Section 300 - Section 300 of the CrPC places a bar wherein, a person who has already been tried by a Court of competent...

Supreme Court Monthly Criminal Digest: December 2022

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