Trial of summon cases under Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

 

Important Sections: 

Chapter 20 – Trial of Summons-Cases By Magistrates

Section 251 – Substance of accusation to be stated

When in a summons-case the accused appears or is brought before the Magistrate, the particulars of the offence of which he is accused shall be stated to him, and he shall be asked whether he pleads guilty or has any defence to make, but it shall not be necessary to frame a formal charge.

Section 252 – Conviction on plea of guilty

If the accused pleads guilty, the Magistrate shall record the plea as nearly as possible in the words used by the accused and may, in his discretion convict him thereon.

Section 253 – Conviction on plea of guilty in absence of accused in petty cases

1. Where a summons has been issued under section 206 and the accused desires to plead guilty to the charge without appearing before the Magistrate, he shall transmit to the Magistrate, by post or by messenger, a letter containing his plea and also the amount of fine specified in the summons.
2. The Magistrate may, in his discretion, convict in his accused in his absence, on his plea of guilty and sentence him to pay the fine specified in the summons, and the amount transmitted by the accused shall be adjusted towards that fine, or where a pleader authorised by the accused in this behalf pleads guilty on behalf of the accused, the Magistrate shall record the plea as nearly as possible in the words used by the pleader and may, in his discretion, convict the accused on such plea and sentence him as aforesaid.

Section 254 – Procedure when not convicted

1. If the Magistrate does not convict the accused under section 252 or section 253, the Magistrate shall proceed to hear the prosecution and take all such evidence as may be produced in support of the prosecution, and also to hear the accused and take all such evidence as he produces in his defence.
2. The Magistrate may, if he thinks fit, on the application of the prosecution or the accused, issue a summons to any witness directing him to attend or to produce any document or other thing.
3. A Magistrate may, before summoning any witness on such application, require that the reasonable expenses of the witness incurred in attending for the purposes of the trial be deposited in Court.

Section 255 – Acquittal or conviction

1. If the Magistrate, upon taking the evidence referred to in section 254 and such further evidence, if any, as he may, of his own motion, cause to be produced, finds the accused not guilt, he shall record an order of acquittal.
2. Where the Magistrate does not proceed in accordance with the provisions of section 325 or section 360, he shall, if he finds the accused guilty, pass sentence upon him according to law.
3. A Magistrate may, under section 252 or section 255, convict the accused of any offence triable under this Chapter which form the facts admitted or proved he appears to have committed, whatever may be the nature of the complaint or summons, if the Magistrate is satisfied that the accused would not be prejudiced thereby.

Section 256 – Non-appearance or death of complainant

1. If the summons has been issued on complaint and on the day appointed for the appearance of the accused, or any day subsequent thereto to which the hearing may be adjourned, the complainant does not appear, the Magistrate shall notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained, acquit the accused unless for some reason he thinks it proper to adjourn the hearing of the case to some other day:
   
   Provided that where the complainant is represented by a pleader or by the officer conducting the prosecution or where the Magistrate is of opinion that the personal attendance of the complainant is not necessary, the Magistrate may dispense with his attendance and proceed with the case.
2. The provisions of Sub-Section (1) shall, so far as may be, apply also to cases where the non-appearance of the complainant is due to his death.

Section 257 – Withdrawal of complaint

If a complainant, at any time before a final order is passed in any case under this Chapter, satisfies the Magistrate that there are sufficient grounds for permitting him to withdraw his complaint against the accused, or if there be more than one accused, against all or any of them, the Magistrate may permit him to withdraw the same, and shall thereupon acquit the accused against whom the complaint is so withdrawn.

Section 258 – Power to stop proceedings in certain cases

In any summons-case instituted otherwise than upon complaint, a Magistrate of the first class or, with the previous sanction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, any other Judicial Magistrate, may, for reasons to be recorded by him, stop the proceedings at any stage without pronouncing any judgment and where such stoppage of proceedings is made after the evidence of the principal witnesses has been recorded, pronounce a judgment of acquittal, and in any other case release, the accused, and such release shall have the effect of discharge.

Section 259 – Power of Court to convert summons-cases into warrant cases

 

Introduction

A "summon" is a document that tells the person who has been served with it to appear before the court and respond to the complaint that has been filed against him. The accused is summoned by the Magistrate in accordance with section 204(1)(a) of the Criminal Code. P.C, 1973. “ A "summon case" is not a "warrant case" but rather a case involving an offense [1]. Summon cases can be derived from the definition of a warrant case, which states that crimes punishable by death, life in prison, or imprisonment for more than two years are referred to as warrant cases [2]. Therefore, summon cases are those for which the penalty will not exceed two years in prison. It's possible to say that summons cases aren't very serious, so they need to be decided quickly without sacrificing a fair trial. Sections 251 to 259 of the Cr. outline the procedure for dealing with such issues. P.C., 1973, which is less serious and formal than other trials (session trial, warrant cases initiated outside of the police report, and warrant cases initiated within the police report).

The procedure for summons cases is the primary focus of this article. The general procedures for a summons case are the same as for other trials, but this one is less formal in order to expedite the process.

 

Procedure of trial in summon-cases

Explanation of the particulars of the offence

While Section 251 states that it is not required to file charges, it does not forbid the accused from explaining the specifics of the offense when they are brought before the Court. This is done to alert the accused to the allegations that have been leveled against him. Because this error can be fixed under section 465 of the code [3], if the details are not provided, it will not affect the outcome of the trial or prejudice the accused. Sections 252 and 253 must be followed if the accused is to be found guilty under section 251, which mandates that courts inquire about the accused's guilty plea.

 

Conviction on plea of guilty

Sections 252 and 253 allow for a guilty plea to be accepted as evidence. In general, section 252 allows for a guilty plea, while section 253 allows for a guilty plea in minor cases. If the accused responds with an affirmative, the court will, in accordance with the law, record the plea in the accused's own words, on the basis of which the accused may be found guilty at the Court's discretion. If the answer is no, the court must proceed with Section 254 further. The accused will not be found guilty even if he or she enters a guilty plea and the charges against him or her do not constitute any offense. If the accused is found guilty on the plea, the magistrate must proceed in accordance with section 360; otherwise, the magistrate must hear the accused's plea and impose a legal sentence. The magistrate has discretion over whether to convict on the plea. The magistrate must proceed in accordance with Section 254 if the guilty plea is rejected.

 

Procedure if the accused not convicted on plea

Section 254 provides about both prosecution and defence case if the accused not convicted on plea under section 252 and 253.

 

Prosecution case

The accused will be heard by the magistrate, who will also take all of the evidence. The prosecution will have the opportunity to present its case during the hearing by presenting the facts and circumstances that make up the case and by revealing the evidence that he used to support the case. On behalf of the prosecution, the magistrate issues a summons to any witness to appear and produce any document or object. In accordance with Section 274, the magistrate will prepare the memorandum of the evidence. In summons cases, as in other trials, the magistrate will adhere to sections 279, which requires the accused to interpret the evidence, and 280, which requires the witnesses to record their demeanor.

 

Hearing of the defence: – (Defence Case)

The court will proceed with the defense hearing under section 254(1) following the examination of the defense under section 313 and the evidence presented by the prosecution under section 254. During the defense's hearing, the accused will be asked to respond to the prosecution's evidence. In any case, the criminal trial will be fundamentally flawed because the accused will not be heard, and section 465 cannot correct this. The accused's evidence will be recorded in the same way that it would in a prosecution under sections 274, 279, and 280. He will be permitted to present his arguments in accordance with Section 314 after the defense has presented their evidence.

 

Acquittal or conviction

If the magistrate finds the accused not guilty, he will acquit them after recording the evidence under 254. The Magistrate must proceed according to Section 360 or 325 if the accused is found guilty; otherwise, he must be sentenced in accordance with the law.

 

Non-appearance or the death of the complainant

Section 256 says that if the complainant does not show up on the date set for the accused to appear, the court can acquit the accused unless there is a good reason to move the case to another day. Section 256(1) also applies in the event of the complainant's death. The Supreme Court can acquit the defendant [4] if the deceased complainant's representative does not appear for 15 days where the defendant appeared.

 

Discharge in case of Summon cases

Section 258 grants the first class Magistrate permission to halt the case at any stage with approval from the Chief Judicial Magistrate in summons cases initiated without a complaint. As a result, if he stops the proceeding "after record of the evidence," his decision is one of acquittal; if he stops "before record of the evidence," his decision is one of release, which has the same effect as discharge.

The fact that a magistrate cannot dismiss a summons case based on a complaint even if there is insufficient evidence to proceed against the accused is contentious. This is because the Magistrate will recall his own order if he does so. The issue of process, according to the Supreme Court, is the Magistrate's interim order, not the judgment, so it can be recalled. The magistrate is not authorized to drop the case in such a situation by any provision [5]. The Magistrate is unable to discharge, review, or recall the process's order in summons cases based on a complaint. In summons cases, the Magistrate of the trial court does not have the authority to drop the proceeding in the absence of such a provision in the law. The case cannot be dropped; the trial must be concluded by the court.[6] Under section 482 of the Cr, an individual may approach the High Court. P.C. under these conditions [7]. In summons cases brought on the basis of a complaint, the accused will either be found guilty or acquitted.[8]

 

Conclusion

In order to expedite the resolution, the summon case trial is less formal than other types of trials. Therefore, the fact that Section 258 does not grant the Magistrate the authority to dismiss the case, even in the absence of sufficient grounds, is unfair to the accused. In the K.M. Matthew case, the court decided that the Magistrate has the implied authority to drop the case if the accusation against the accused does not prove any crime was committed. It has opposed a number of judicial rulings. In the Arvind Kejriwal case, the Supreme Court ruled that the law does not specifically authorize the Magistrate to drop the case under section 258 and assigned the case to the high court under section 482. However, it is important to keep in mind that the High Court must also examine the case once more to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed against the accused. All of this will impede the primary goal of the summons case, which is a speedy trial. Even though the Supreme Court dealt with this issue in a number of cases, it needs to be looked at again to ensure that the accused get a fair trial and that their rights are protected in these situations.

 

The below flow chart may be helpful to summarise the procedure:

References:

[1] Section 2(w) of Criminal procedure code, 1973

[2] Section 2(x) of Criminal procedure Code, 1973

[3] Manbodh Biswal v. Samaru Pradhan 1980 Cri LJ 1023(ori); Nayan Ram v. Prasanna Kumar, 1953 cri LJ 1574;

[4] S. Rama Krishna v. S Rami Reddy (2008) 5 SCC 535

[5] K. M. Matthew v. State of Kerala (1992) 1 SCC 217

[6] Subramanium Sethuraman v. State of Maharashtra & Anr, (2004) 13 SCC 324

[7] Arvind Kejriwal and others v. Amit Sibal & Anr (2014) 1 High Court Cases (Del) 719

[8] R.K. Aggarwal v. Brig Madan Lal Nassa & Anr 2016 SCC Online Del 3720