Framing of Charges
12 Important Supreme Court Decisions
- Supdt. And Remembrance of Legal Affairs, West Bengal v. Anil Kumar Bhunja, AIR 1980 SC 52
The law regarding discharging the accused u/s.227 of Cr. P. C. is now well settled as decided by the Full Bench of the Apex Court in that the standard test, proof and judgment which is to be applied finally before finding the accused guilty or otherwise is not exactly to be applied at the stage of S.277 or S.228 At this stage, even a very strong suspicion founded upon materials before the Magistrate, which leads him to form a presumptive opinion as to the existence of the factual ingredients constituting the offence alleged, may justify the framing of charges against the accused in respect of the commission of that offence.
2. Niranjan Singh Karam Singh Punjabi, Advocate v. Jitender Bhimraj Bijja, AIR 1990 SC 1962 : (1990) 4 SCC 76
Wherein, the Full Bench of the Apex Court has held that consideration of the record and document at that stage is for the limited purpose of ascertaining whether or not there exists sufficient grounds for proceeding with the trial against the accused and with furtherance sufficient ground to proceed, charge shall be framed and that at that such stage, the trial Court has not to marshal the documents produced before it as it would do on the conclusion of evidence for deciding the charge.
The Apex Court considered the scope of S.227 and opined that Court is not expected to make a rowing inquiry into the pros and cons of the issue and weigh the evidence as if a trial is conducted. Accused can be discharged only when there is no prima facie ground to sustain the charge. What is required is the sufficiency of ground to sustain the charge. What is required is the sufficiency of ground for proceeding against the accused and not whether materials on record are sufficient for conviction.
After considering the provisions of Ss. 227 and 228 of Cr. P. C, Court posed a question whether at the stage of framing the charge, trial Court should marshal the materials on the record of the case as he would do on the conclusion of the trial? The Court held that at the stage of framing the charge inquiry must necessarily be limited to deciding if the facts emerging from such materials constitute the offence with which the accused could be charged.
The Court may peruse the records for that limited purpose, but it is not required to marshal with a view to decide the reliability thereof.
It is well settled that at the stage of framing charge the Court is not expected to go deep into the probative value of the material on record. If on the basis of materials on record the Court could come to the conclusion that the accused would have committed the offence, the Court is obliged to frame the charge and proceed to the trial.
3. Om Wati vs. State, AIR 2001 SC 1507
In it is observed that accused cannot be discharged on hypothesis, imagination and far-fetched reasons.
4. State of Maharashtra vs. Priya Sharan Maharaj, AIR 1997 SC 2041
It is held that at the stage of framing the charge, the Court has to consider the material with a view to find out if there is ground for presuming that accused has committed an offence or that there is no sufficient ground for proceeding against him and not for the charges by arriving at the conclusion that it is not likely to lead to a conviction.
5. State of MP vs. SB Johari, AIR 2000 SC 665 : (2000) 2 SCC 57
It was held that, the Court at the stage of S.227 and S.228 is not required to appreciate the evidence and arrive at the conclusion that the materials produced are sufficient or not for