AMITY LAW SCHOOL

WEEKLY PROGRESS REPORT (WPR-4)

For fourth week

Internship under district judge shyam sunder

Prepared and submitted by: Lakshay Tewatia

Faculty Guide name: Dr. Anil Kumar Sinha

Enrollment no: A3221519221

Course/Semester: BBA LLB Hons. Semester 5

Topic covered this week- summary trials, summons trials, warrant trials, sessions trials

Above topics in detail

What is Summary Trial?

Summary trials are quickly disposed of and with the basic procedure of
recording the trials. A summary trial is established on the legal maxim
‘justice delayed is justice denied’. It is noted that the summary is simply
in recording the proceedings and not in directing the proceedings. In
every case, proceedings have to be done cautiously and prudently. A
summary trial denotes that the case is tried and disposed at once. Such
trial is not available to cases that are difficult and require a long process
of analysis. Access to summary trial even in small cases prevents a
failure of justice which would have otherwise taken some years to
complete the proceedings. Section 260 to 265 of Crpc, 1973 deals with
the summary trials.
Who has Power to try trial summarily?

According to Section 260 of the Code says that any Chief Judicial
Magistrate, Metropolitan Magistrate and Magistrate of the first class
with the power to try trial summarily. Still, a Magistrate of the first class
to try summarily has to take special approval from the High Court.
According to section 261, any HC may authorize any Magistrate of the
second class to try summarily any offense which punishable only with
fine or with imprisonment for a duration not exceeding 6 months with
or without fine and any attempt or the abetment of such offenses.

In which offense can be tried summarily?

Magistrate of the first class, who is authorized for trial summarily, if he

think can try all or any of the following offenses summarily:

Offenses not punishable with death, imprisonment for life or

imprisonment for a period exceeding two years;

Offenses of theft, under section 379, section 380 or section 381 of IPC
and where the value of the property stolen doesn’t exceed 200 rupees.

Offenses relating to retaining stolen property, in section 411 of the

Indian Penal Code and where the value of the property doesn’t exceed
the limit 200 rupees.
 Assisting in the concealment or disposal of stolen property under
section 414 of the IPC and where the worth of such property doesn’t
exceed two hundred rupees.

Offenses under sections 454 and 456 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of
1860).

Any type of offenses relating insult with the intention to provoke a

breach of the peace. Under section 504, and criminal intimidation,
under section 506 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).

any abetment of the above-mentioned offenses;

An attempt to commit any of the above-mentioned offenses and

when such an attempt is an offense.

Any offense established by an act in respect of which a complaint

may be made under section 20 of the Cattle- Trespass Act, 1871

SUMMONS TRIAL
Summon” is a document that commands a person to whom it is served
to appear before the court and to answer the complaint made against
him. Summon is issued by the Magistrate to the accused under section
204(1) (a) of Cr.P.C, 1973. “Summon case” means a case relating to an
offence, not being a warrant case[1]. Summon cases can be referred
from the definition of the warrant case i.e., offences punishable with
death, imprisonment for life and imprisonment for the terms exceeding
two years called as warrant cases[2]. So summon cases are those in
which punishment will not exceed imprisonment for two years. It can
be said that summon cases are not of serious nature, so it needs to be
decided speedily, without dispensing the requisites of the fair trial. The
procedure to deal with such matter provided in section 251 to 259 of
Cr.P.C, 1973 which is not as serious/formal as other trials (Session trial,
warrant case instituted on the police report and warrant cases
instituted otherwise than on police report).

Procedure of trial in summon-cases

Explanation of the particulars of the offence

Section 251 provides that it is not mandatory to frame charges but the
section does not dispense with the explanation of the particulars of the
offence when accused is brought or appear before the Court. This is
done to make the accused cognizant for the allegations made against
him. If in case unable to convey the particulars than this will not vitiate
the trial and it will not lead to the prejudice with the accused as this
irregularity is remediable under section 465 of the code[3]. Under
section 251 courts shall ask the accused whether the accused pleads
guilty, and section 252 and 253 needs to comply for conviction on such
plea of guilty.

Conviction on plea of guilty

Section 252 and 253 provides conviction on the plea of guilty. Section
252 provides plea of guilty in general and section 253 provides plea of
guilty in case of the petty cases. In case accused plead guilty, the
answer is affirmative than in accordance with law court will record the
plea in the exact words of the accused on the basis of which accused
can be convicted on the Court’s discretion. If not affirmative than the
court needs to proceed further with Section 254. If the accused plead
guilty, and the charges against him do not constitute any offence than
mere plea will not amount to the conviction of the accused. As the
magistrate has the discretion to convict on the plea or not, if on plea
the accused is convicted than the magistrate shall proceed according to
section 360 otherwise hear the accused on the question of sentence
and sentence him according to law. If the plea of guilty is not accepted
than magistrate shall proceed according to section 254.

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 magistrate will hear the accused and take all the evidence. In the
hearing, the prosecution will be given chance to open its case by
putting facts and circumstances which constitute the case and by
revealing the evidence which he relied upon to prove the case. The
magistrate on the application of the prosecution, serve summon to any
witness to attend and to produce any document or thing. The
magistrate will prepare the memorandum of the evidence according to
section 274. Same as other trials in summon cases also the magistrate
will comply with section 279 i.e., interpretation of evidence to the
accused and 280 i.e., recording of the demeanor of the witnesses.
Hearing of the defence: – (Defence Case)

After the prosecution evidence under 254 and examination of defence

under section 313, in the continuance of this, the court will proceed
with the defence hearing under section 254(1). In the hearing of the
defence means accused will be asked for accused say against the
prosecution evidence. Failure of hearing of the accused in any case will
amount to the fundamental error in the criminal trial and it can not be
cured under section 465. Evidence produced by the accused will be
recorded in the same manner as in case of prosecution under section
274, 279, 280. After the submission of the evidence of the defence, he
will be allowed to submit his arguments under section 314.

WARRANT TRIALS
Warrant cases means the cases which are a more serious offence that is
punishable with death, life imprisonment or imprisonment for a term
exceeding two years. The trials of warrant cases are conducted by the
Court of Session or by Magistrate. If the offence is more serious then it
is triable by the Court of Sessions, whereas if the offence is less serious
warrant case then it is triable by the Magistrate.

Trial of Warrant cases is divided into two parts:

i) “Trial before a Court of Sessions”

ii) “Trial by a Magistrate”

Trial before a Court of Sessions (Section220-237)

Section 225-Trial to be conducted by the Public Prosecutor.

Before a Court of Session, the prosecution shall be conducted by the

Public Prosecutor. The Public Prosecutor represents the State in all the
trials before the Court of Sessions. In Shiva Kumar v. Humum Chand[i] ,
it is held that the prosecution in the Court of Sessions should be
conducted by Public Prosecutor and no other person can conduct.

Section 226-Opening Case For Prosecution.

When the accused commits an offence under Section 209, and the
accused was brought before the Court, the Prosecutor shall open his
case by explaining the charge against the accused and states the
evidence he proposes to prove the guilt of accused. The opening of
prosecution always is to matters which are necessary to follow the
evidence. It is not necessary to include the full documents of evidence
to present before the Court Of Sessions during the opening of
prosecution. The Prosecutor is required to address the witnesses of the
case and whom he proposes to call.
Section227-Discharge

The Court, after consideration of the records of the case and the
documents submitted, and hearing the prosecution and the accused, if
the judge considers that there is no sufficient ground for proceeding
against the accused, he shall discharge the accused under Section227.
And it is necessary to record the reasons for discharging of accused.

Section 228-Framing Of Charge

The Court, after considering the record of cases and documents as

evidence and hearing the prosecution and the accused, if it is found
that the accused has committed the offence, and exclusively triable in
Court of Session, he will frame the charge against the accused. If the
case is not exclusively triable in Court of Session, the judge may frame
the charge and transfer the case to Chief Judicial Magistrate or any
other Judicial Magistrate of First Class

In Bhawna Bai v. Ghanashyam& Ors [ii], it was held that while framing
the charges, prima facie case has to be seen and at that stage, the
Court is not required to record order. Also, it is not necessary to record
whether the case is beyond reasonable doubt
According to sec228(2) of CRpC the charge must be read and explained
to the accused by the Court and ask the accused whether we want to
plead guilty.

Section 229 – Conviction on Plea of Guilty

Under this section, the Court can accept the plea of the accused and he
also ensures that the plea of the accused is made by himself, not under
any influence. The judge after recording the plea may in his discretion
convict the accused.

Section 230 – Date For Prosecution Evidence and Section 231 –

Evidence for Prosecution

If the accused refused to plead guilty or does not plead, or claim to be

tried then the Judge may issue any process for compelling the
production of any document or for the attendance of the witness or
other thing. The judge shall proceed to take all the evidence produced
by the Prosecution.

Section 232 – Acquittal

If there is no evidence against the accused then the judge can order
acquittal under Section232 or the evidence submitted by the
prosecution against the accused, if the court found it as groundless
then a judge can order an acquittal

Section233 – Defence

If the accused is not acquitted the steps for defence may starts and he
shall be entered on his defence to produce the evidence in his support.
The evidence produced by the defence in written form will be filed by
the Judge as a record.

Section 235 – Judgement Of Acquittal or Conviction and Section 236

Previous Conviction

After hearing the arguments(Section 234 CrPC), the judge will decide
the case. The judgement of acquittal or conviction is only after the
hearing of both the prosecution and the defence. Section 236 of CrPc
states that, if the accused is convicted previously under Section 211(7)
and if the accused not admitting the previous conviction, then the judge
may call for the evidence of the previous charge.

SESSIONS TRIALS
District court referred to as sessions court when it exercises its
jurisdiction on criminal matters under Code Of Criminal Procedure
1973. As per section 9 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the State
government establishes court for every session division. The court
presided over by a Judge, appointed by the High Court of that particular
state. The High Court may also appoint Additional Sessions Judges and
Assistant Sessions Judges in this court. In India, the Sessions Court has
responsibility for adjudicating matters related to criminal cases.

The court takes the responsible for cases relating to murders, theft,
dacoity, pick-pocketing and other such cases. Trial is an important
process to determine whether the accused is guilty of an offence.
Basing on the seriousness of the offence, criminal cases are categorized
under two heads viz:

Summons cases; and

Warrant cases.

Among warrant cases, the cases which are more serious in nature are
triable by the Court of Session, while less serious cases are triable by
the Courts of Magistrate. A Court of Session cannot take cognizance of
any offence, though it is triable by it. A competent Magistrate takes
cognizance of any offence and commits the case for trial by a Court of
Session. Trial of Criminal cases may be explained with reference to the
following heads:
 Trial (of Warrant-Cases) before a Court of Session.

Trial of Warrant-Cases by Magistrates.

Trial of Summons-Cases by Magistrates.

Summary Trials.

Trial before a Court of Session:

The code lays down the procedure for trial before a court of session as
follows:

Parties (sec. 225): In a trial before a court of session, the prosecution

shall be conducted by a public prosecutor. The accused has a right to
engage a counsel of his choice. If he cannot afford to engage the
defence counsel, the court engaged at the state expenses. Before
commencing the trial, the accused in supplied with the copies of
documents like police report, F.I.R etc.

Opening the case (sec. 226): The public prosecutor opens the case by
describing accusation against the accused. He states briefly by what
evidence, he proposes to prove the guilt. The prosecutor duty is not to
secure a conviction but simply to lay the facts of the case before the
tribunal, which is to judge.
 Â

Discharge of the accused (sec. 227): After hearing from both the
parties if the court considers that there is no sufficient ground to
proceed against the accused, discharges him and records the reason for
doing so. There is no scope for examination of any witness but there is
scope for both sides to argue their case in favour of framing charge or
discharge.

Framing of charge (sec. 228): After hearing from both the parties if
the court presumes that the accused might have committed the
offences:

i) If frames a charge in writing, if the offence is exclusively triable by

the Court of Session.

ii) If the offence is not triable exclusively by the session’s court, it

frames charge and transfers the case to the Chief Judicial Magistrate. It
was held in Kanti Bhadra Shah & anr v. State of West Bengal {1}while
exercising power under Section 228 CrPC, the Judge is not required to
record his reasons for framing the charges against the accused.

While framing charges, only the prima facie case has to be seen. At
this stage, the Judge is not required to record a detailed order
necessary to see whether the case is beyond reasonable doubt as held
by the Supreme Court in Bhawna Bai v. Ghanshyam & Ors.(2)
 In Rukmini Narvekar v. Vijaya Satardekar {3} it was ruled by the Court
that the accused cannot produce any evidence at the stage of framing
of charge and only those materials can be taken into consideration
which is specified in Section 227 at the time of framing charges.

Explaining the charge and enquiry about plea (sec. 228(2)): The
contents of the charge have to be explained to the accused as to enable
him to plead guilty of the offence or claim to be tried. In Banwari v.
State of UP, {4} the Court held that default in reading out or explaining
the charge to the accused would not vitiate the trial unless it has been
shown that non-compliance with Section 228 has resulted in prejudice
to the accused.

Conviction on plea of guilty (sec. 229): If the accused pleads guilty,

the judge shall record the plea and may in his discretion convict him
thereon. It was held in Queen Empress v. Bhadu {5} that the plea of
guilty must be in unambiguous terms otherwise such a plea is
considered as equivalent to a plea of not guilty. Section 229 states that
if an accused pleads guilty then the Judge shall convict him as per his
discretion and shall record the same. The Court cannot convict an
accused on the basis of the plea of guilty where the offence is of a
nature in which the punishment is death or imprisonment for life. In
Hasaruddin Mohommad v. Emperor,{6} the Court held that it will be
reluctant for the Court to convict a person accused of an offence in
which the punishment is death or life imprisonment on the basis of his
plea of guilty. The right of appeal of the accused is curtailed by Section
375 If the accused is convicted on the basis of his plea of guilty.

Date for prosecution evidence (sec. 230): If the accused refuses to

plead or does not plead or claims to be tried or is not convicted under
sec. 229, the judge shall fix at date for the examination or witness or
may order for compelling appearance of any witness or production of a
thing/document.