Many a times we come across the term called criminal trial. In general
parlance, we understand trial means that a person is facing a case in court of
law. But generally people are not aware of the process of criminal trial in
India. So here is the procedure for criminal trial that generally takes place
in India.
Types of Criminal Trials
Before we proceed further, we must note that according to Criminal
Procedure Code, criminal trial can be of tree types namely Trial in Warrant
cases, Trial in Summon Cases and Summary Trial.
Trial in Warrant Cases
Warrant cases are those cases in which an offence attracts a penalty of
imprisonment for more than seven years and it includes offences punishable with
death and life imprisonment. In such cases, the trial starts either by filing
of FIR or by filing a complaint before a magistrate. And if the magistrate
finds that the case relates to an offence carrying a punishment for more than
two years, the case is sent to the sessions court for trial.
Section 193 of the Criminal Procedure Code clearly states that the
session court cannot take cognizance of any offence unless the case has been
sent to it by a magistrate. The process of sending it to session’s court is
generally called committing it to session’s court.
Trial in Summon Cases
A summon case is a case which is not a warrant case. So in simple words,
those cases in which an offence is punishable with an imprisonment of less than
two years is a summon case. In this case, one must understand that if a
magistrate, after looking into the case, thinks that a case is not a summon case;
he may convert it into a warrant case. In respect of summons cases, there is no
need to frame a charge. The court gives substance of the accusation, which is
called “notice”, to the accused when the person appears in pursuance to the
summons.
Summary Trial
Case of offenses punishable with an imprisonment of not more than six
months can be tried in a summary way. It is also to be noted that if the case
has been tried in a summary way, a person cannot be awarded a punishment of
imprisonment for more than three months.
Pre-trial stages
Registration of FIR
FIR stands for first information report which is lodged under section
154 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The FIR is only the basis information which
is made available to the police when a cognizable offence takes place. FIR is
the first stage from which a criminal case takes the birth.
Investigation
FIR in a criminal case leads to investigation in the case. Investigation
leads an investigating officer to reach to a conclusion whether a charge sheet
has to be filed or a closure report has to be filed in the case. If the
investigation result in discovery of an offence, a charge sheet is filed, otherwise
a closure report is filed before the concerned court.
Trial
If the investigating officer finds out that a case is fit for trial then
he files a charge sheet in the case.
Filing of the charge sheet
The charge sheet is the brief summary of how an offence had been
committed? What was the role of each person who was involved in the crime and
the sections under which the investigating officer had charged all the accused.
The charge sheet also contains the names of the person who were investigated
but could not be charged due to lack of evidence in the eyes of the
investigating agency. Filing of the charge sheet generally means that the
investigation in the case is over and now the court has to consider the
evidence collected by the investigating agency. It is to be noted, that if
during the course of trial, some new facts come to the light, the agency may
file additional charge sheets.
Framing of charges/Serving the Notice
If it’s a summon case, a simple notice is given and a response is sought
from the accused. But in warrant cases, the court frames the charges.
Framing of charges mean that the court looks into the evidence collected
by the investigating agency and applies its mind so as to what are the charges
under which an accused has to be booked. For example, the police have filed a charge
sheet accusing a person of murder under section 302, but the court deems it
proper to charge the person for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under
section 304. At this stage, if an accused pleads guilty then the court will
apply its judicial mind and decide the punishment accordingly. And if the
accused pleads not guilty, he is informed the charges under which he would be
required to face the trial.
On the other hand, if the judge finds that no offence against an accused
is made out; the accused is discharged from the case. The court has to apply
its mind and record the reasons for discharging an accused.
Recording of the Prosecution Evidence
After the charges have been framed against an accused, the prosecution
is required to produce before the court, all the evidence collected by the
investigating agency. It is to be noted that when the investigating agency
produces the evidence before the court, the evidence has to be supplemented
with the statement of the prosecution witnesses (PWs). The process of recording
the statement of PWs is called Examination-in-Chief. The evidence
which is brought before the court and which the court considers is called
“Exhibit”. The witnesses brought by the prosecution are expected to
support the case presented by the prosecution and if they fail to do so, they
are declared hostile and the prosecution may request the court not to rely on
the statement of such a witness.
In case the witness supports the case of the prosecution, the defence is
entitled to cross examine the witness so that they could find out the
discrepancies in the statement of the witness concerned. If the defence
succeeds in finding the discrepancies in the statement of the witnesses, they
may ask the court not to rely on the statement of the said witness.
Statement of the accused
Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure code empowers the court to ask for
an explanation from the accused if any. The basic idea is to give an
opportunity of being heard to an accused and explain the facts and
circumstances appearing in the evidence against him. Under this section, an
accused shall not be administered an oath and the accused may refuse to answer
the questions so asked. The answers given by the accused may be taken into
consideration in such inquiry or trial, and put in evidence for or against him.
Evidence of Defence
After the statement of the accused is over, the court applies its mind
and tries to find out if the accused has committed any offence or not. If the
court reaches the conclusion that no offence has been committed by the accused,
he is acquitted. It must be noted that while acquitting an accused, the judge
is expected to give reasons for acquitting the accused.
In cases of accused not being acquitted by the court, the defence is
given an opportunity to present any defence evidence in support of the accused.
The defence can also produce its witnesses and the said witnesses are cross
examined by the prosecution. In India, generally the defence does not provide defence
evidence as the criminal justice system in India puts burden of proof on the
prosecution to prove that a person is guilty of an offence beyond the
reasonable doubt.
Final Arguments of both the sides
Once the defence evidence of the accused is over, the prosecution
presents its final arguments. In final arguments, the prosecution generally sum
up its case against the accused. After the final arguments of the prosecution
are over, the defence also present its final arguments. After the final
arguments of both the sides are over, the court generally reserve its judgment.
Delivery of Judgment
After application of mind, the judge delivers a final judgment holding
an accused guilty of offence or acquitting him of the particular offence. If a
person is acquitted, the prosecution is given time to file an appeal and if a
person is convicted of a particular offence, then date is fixed for arguments
on sentence.
Arguments on sentence
Once a person is convicted of an offence, both the sides present their
arguments on what punishment should be awarded to an accused. This is generally
done in cases which are punished with death or life imprisonment.
Judgment with punishment
After the arguments on sentence, the court finally decides what should
be the punishment for the accused. While punishing a person, the courts
consider various theories of punishment like reformative theory of punishment
and deterrent theory of punishment. Court also considers the age, background
and history of an accused and the judgment is pronounced accordingly.
(Note: Change in Court proceedings may subject to current law mechanism.)