legal procedure at court, the trial of summon cases by the magistrate

1. TRIAL OF SUMMON
CASES BY
MAGISTRATE
Professor & LawyerProfessor & Lawyer
Puttu Guru PrasadPuttu Guru Prasad
VVIT-NamburVVIT-Nambur

2. Introduction
A summon case has been defined as a case relating to an
offence, not being a warrant case. This, in other word means,
a case relating to an offence which is not punishment with
death, imprisonment for or imprisonment for a term
exceeding two years.
The trial procedure prescribed for summons cases is
contained in section 251 to 259 of the code of criminal
procedure.
Since cases involve offence of a less serious nature
than that offence tribal as warrant case, the procedure is
simple and less formal, without however, undermining the
cause of justice.

3. The Procedure is governed by the CrPC, 1973, there
are three basic stages to it, which normally occur in
the same order viz. Investigation (where evidences
are to be collected), Inquiry (A judicial proceeding
where judge ensures for himself before going on
trial, that there are reasonable grounds to believe
the person to be guilty) & TRIAL. The term ‘Trial’
has not been defined in the CrPC, however is
commonly understood to mean – a judicial
proceeding where evidences are allowed to be
proved or disproved.
Process of criminal Trial in India

4. 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.
If the accused pleads guilty, it is imperative
for the magistrate for the magistrate to record the
plea in the exact words used by the accused as
nearly as possible and in the accused’s own
language in order to avoid any misapprehension.
Mahantkaushilya das v. state of madras, AIR 1966
SC 22

5. Conviction on plea of guilty in absenceConviction on plea of guilty in absence
of accused in petty casesof accused in petty cases
Where a summon has been issued under section
206 and the accused desires to plead guilty to
the charge without appearing before the
magistrate, he shall transmits to the magistrate,
by post or by messenger, a letter containing his
plea and also the amount of fine specified.
The magistrate may, in his discretion, convict
the accused in his absence, on his plea of guilty
and sentence him to pay the fine specified in the
summon, and the amount transmitted by the
accused shall be adjusted

6. Non-apperance or death ofNon-apperance or death of
complainantcomplainant
 1. If the summon has been issued on complaint, and on
the day appointed for the appearance of the accused, any
day subsequent thereto which the hearing may be
adjourned, the complainant does not appear, the
magistrate shall, notwithstanding anything hereinbefore
contained, acquitted the accused, unless for some reason
he think it proper to adjourn the hearing of the case to
some other day
 2. The provision 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.

7. Case LawsCase Laws
In sant kumar singh v. state, the High Court of
Delhi ruled that where accused did not plead
guilty, the Magistrate has simply to ask the
accused if he had any defence to make and
nothing beyond that. The magistrate could not at
initial stage compel the accused to disclose his
defence in detail. In the Instant case, While giving
notice of substance of accusation asking several
question to accused to find out whether he was
driving offending vehicle rashly and negligently
was liable to be set aside being beyond the ambit
of the provision contained in section 251 of Cr. P.C

8. ConclusionConclusion
 The foregoing discussion reveals that police organizations of
many countries have launched various schemes and programmes
for people’s participation in policing.
 But there is still a need for the modification of the situation and
thereby the agency of criminal justice system namely the police
to protect the human rights of citizens and fulfil the objective of
welfare state. The most important transition that merits urgent
attention hinges on the attitude of the average policemen in their
day-to-day work. To make this task possible, a great amount of
social awareness coupled with the self-awareness on the part of
the police personnel is a primary pre-requisite. In specific cases
related to arrests and other offences also where there is a scope
for the misuse of police power, the abuse of police power can be
stopped by Transparency of action and Accountability.