CRIMINAL TRIAL

INTRODUCTION
The framework of rules and regulations that governs the
administration of delivering justice to the society in cases which
involves individuals who has been accused with a crime. The
punishments for such crimes are decided by set rules/procedure
of Criminal Trial.

In India, the guidelines of Criminal Trials are well established
statutory, judicial and administrative framework. In India, Criminal
Law consists of three Acts:
1.Indian Penal Code, 1860.
2.Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
3.Indian Evidence Act,1873.

Indian Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code are known
as the “twin sisters” of Criminal law. Cr. P.C. Is known to be
procedural law for conducting Criminal Trial in India. The
said Procedure includes

1. Collection of Evidence.
2. Examination of witnesses.
3. Interrogation of accused
4. Arrests
5. Bail.
6. Process of Criminal Trial.

TYPES OF CRIMINAL TRIALS
WARRANT
TRIALS
(7 YEARS
OR MORE)
SUMMARY
TRIALS
(MAXIMUM
6 MONTHS)
SUMMONS
TRIALS
(MAXIMUM 2
HOURS )

WARRANT CASES
In accordance to Section 2(x) of the Cr. P.C., a warrant case is the type
of case where the offences are punishable with death, imprisonment for
life or imprisonment for a term more than 2 years. In warrant cases, the
trial starts by filing F.I.R. In Police Station or by filing complaint to the
Magistrate.

After that if the Magistrate is satisfied that the offence is punishable for
more than 2 years, he sends the case to the Sessions court for trial. The
process of sending the case to the Sessions court by the Magistrate is
known as committing it to the Sessions court”.
The stages of procedure of trial in warrant cases are given from Section
238 to 250 of the Cr.P.C.

IMPORTANT FEATURES OF WARRANT CASES
Charges against the accused must be mentioned in Warrant case.
Physical appearance of the accused infront of the court of law is
mandatory. Cases under Warrant cases cannot be converted into
Summon Cases.

The accused has the authority that he can cross examine the
witness more than once.
The Magistrate should ensure that the provisions of Section 207
of Criminal Procedure Code are followed.

STAGES OF CRMINAL TRIAL IN WARRANT CASES
1. First Information Report: The very first step of Criminal Trial is
the registration of F.I.R. Under section 154 of the Criminal Procedure
Code, an F.I.R. is an Information given by someone who may or may
not be the victim, to the police related to the commitment of offence.

2. Investigation: Once an F.I.R. is filed the next step is investigation
by the on duty investigating officer. A concluding report is made by
the investigating officer which includes various facts and findings
related to the case like new facts, evidences, circumstances,
examining various persons and recording their statements in writing
and all other steps required for the

completion of the investigation. All these findings are then made in the
form of a police report which is submitted to the Magistrate.
3. Charges: After the evaluation of the Police Report if the accused is
not discharged from the liabilities, the court frames charges under
which he shall be prosecuted in the court of law. The charges must be
in writing.

4. Plea of Guilty: Under section 241 of the Cr. P.C., the accused
after he is framed by charges has a right to plead for guilty, and
the responsibility lies with the judge to ensure that the plea was
made voluntarily without any use of any sort of force. The judge
after ensuring upon all these facts may convict the accused.

5. Prosecution of Evidence: After the plea of guilty, the court requires
the Prosecution to present evidence in order to prove the accused guilty.
The evidences produced must go along with the statements of the
witnesses. This process of evaluation is known as “Examination in
chief”. The Magistrate is authorized to summon orders to the witnesses
to produce relevant documents in accordance with the case.

6. Statement of the Accused: According to the section 313 of the
Cr. P.C. the court gives an opportunity to the accused to be heard
and present the facts and circumstances of the case by his vision.
The statements of accused are not recorded under oath which may
or may not be used against him in the trial.

7. Defense evidence: Fair and equal opportunity is provided to the
accused in a case so as to defend himself. The defense can include
both oral and documentary evidence. In India, the burden of proof
is on the prosecution in general, is not requisite to give any
evidence.

8. Judgment: The final decision given by the court of law with reasonable
thoughts support of the acquittal or conviction of the accused is known as
judgment. If the accused is acquitted, the prosecution is given reasonable time
to raise appeal against the order of the court. When the person is convicted,
then both sides are invited to give arguments on the punishment which is to be
awarded. This is usually done when the person is convicted of an offense
whose punishment is life imprisonment or capital punishment.

SUMMONS CASES
In accordance to Section 2(w) of Cr.P.C., 1973, Those cases in which an
offense is punishable with an imprisonment of less than two years is known as
summon case. A summon case in general doesn’t require preparation of the
evidence. Interestingly, a summon case can be converted into a warrant case
by the magistrate if after looking into the case the judge thinks that the given
case doesn't come under the category of the summons case.

The cases under this are comparatively less serious than the
warrant cases and thus the punishment is less than 2 years.

IMPORTANT POINTS OFSUMMARYTRIAL
1. Unlike warrant cases which are not convertible, summons case can be
converted into a warrant case on the discretion of judge.
2. The person accused does not need to be present personally. The person
accused should be informed about the charges orally. Written charges are
not compulsory.

3. The accused gets only single opportunity to cross-examine the
witnesses.
The stages of criminal trial in a summon case are given under the
Section 251 to Section 259 of the Code of Criminal procedure.

STAGES IN A CRIMINAL TRIAL UNDER SUMMON TRIALS
1. Pre-trial: In the pre-trial, just like any other trial, the F.I.R. is filed and
investigation is conducted on the basis of facts submitted under the F.I.R.
2. Charges: In summons trials, charges are framed orally. The accused
appears before the court or then the Magistrate orally states the facts of the
offense to which he is answerable.

3. Plea of guilty: The Magistrate after stating all the facts of the
offense asks the accused whether he pleads guilty or has any
sort of defense or evidence to support his case. If the accused
pleads guilty, the Magistrate records his statement in the exact
words of the accused convict him on his discretion.

4. Plea of guilty and absence of the accused: In cases, wherein the
accused pleads guilty without appearing in the court, is required to
send Rs.1000/- by post or through a messenger to the Magistrate.
The absentee should also send a letter as an acceptance of guilt and
the requist amount of fine provided in the summons. The Magistrate
on his discretion can convict the accused.

5. Prosecution and defense evidence: In summons case, the procedure
followed by the courts is very simple and long hefty procedures are
eliminated. If the accused does not pleads himself guilty, then the
process of trial starts. The prosecution and the defense are asked to
submit or provide evidence in support of their cases. The Magistrate
has the authority to take the statement of the accused.

6. Judgement: When the sentence is delivered in a summons case, the parties
are not required to argue upon the amount of punishment given. The sentence is
only on the discretion of the judge. If the accused is acquitted, the prosecution
has the sole right to appeal in the higher courts.
This right to appeal is also extended to the accused, that he can go to the
Appellate Court incase he thinks that the decision taken by the court or the
Magistrate has failed to provide him justice anyhow.

SUMMARY TRIAL
• Cases under the summary Trial generally take only one or two hearings
to decide the matter. The summary trials are generally for the small
offenses to reduce the burden on courts and to save everyone's time and
money. Those cases in which an offense is punishable with not more
than 6 months of imprisonment are tried in a summary way.

The point worth noticing is that, if the case is being tried in a
summary way, the person cannot be awarded a punishment of
imprisonment for more than 3 months.
• The trial procedure of Summary Court is provided under
Section 260 to Section 265 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

STAGES OF CRIMINAL TRIAL UNDER SUMMARY TRIAL
1. Pre-trial: In the pre-trial, just like any other trial, the F.I.R. is filed and
investigation is conducted on the basis of facts submitted under the
F.I.R.
2. Charges: In summons trials, charges are framed orally. The accused
appears before the court or then the Magistrate orally states the facts of
the offense to which he is answerable.

3. Plea of guilty: The Magistrate after stating all the facts of the
offense asks the accused whether he pleads guilty or has any sort
of defense or evidence to support his case. If the accused pleads
guilty, the Magistrate records his statement in the exact words of
the accused convict him on his discretion.

4. Plea of guilty and absence of the accused: In cases, wherein the
accused pleads guilty without appearing in the court, is required to send
Rs.1000/- by post or through a messenger to the Magistrate. The absentee
should also send a letter as an acceptance of guilt and the request amount
of fine provided in the summons. The Magistrate on his discretion can
convict the accused. For not more than 3 Months of imprisonment.

5. Prosecution and defense evidence: In summons case, the procedure
followed by the courts is very simple and long hefty procedures are
eliminated. If the accused does not pleads himself guilty, then the
process of trial starts. The prosecution and the defense are asked to
submit or provide evidence in support of their cases. The Magistrate
has the authority to take the statement of the accused.

6. Judgement: When the sentence is delivered in a summons case, the
parties are not required to argue upon the amount of punishment
given. The sentence is only on the discretion of the judge, the judge
is required to record the substance of the evidence and statement of
the finding of the court with reasons. If the accused is acquitted, the
prosecution has the sole right to appeal in the higher courts.

• This right to appeal is also extended to the accused, that he can go
to the Appellate Court incase he thinks that the decision taken by
the court or the Magistrate has failed to provide him justice
anyhow.