The very fundamental idea of trial must be learned before moving on to the numerous concepts connected with trials in India’s criminal justice system. The Court’s ruling or a judicial judgment by the Court determining the person’s guilt or innocence is what is often meant by the term “trial.” In a criminal case, a trial is extremely important. The prerequisites outlined in Section 190 CrPC must be satisfied before the Magistrate can begin proceedings, which essentially refers to the Magistrate’s authority to learn about a case.In essence, Section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Code gives the Magistrate the sole authority to accept or reject a case on specific grounds. This part also establishes whether a matter can go to the trial stage or not.

Types of Trial

Mainly, there are four types of trial:

• Warrant Case- A warrant case associates itself to the case where the crimes punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term exceeding two years are considered. Trial of warrant cases are further classified into two more types namely:
  • Cases instituted by a police report- A police report is basically a report which Magistrate receives from a police officer under Sec. 173. The police should send their report as soon as they complete the investigation and the accused appears in front of a Magistrate before starting the trial.
  • Cases established other than a police report- Here, no kind police report or investigation is required. The Magistrate directly receives a complaint which is filed before him.

The sections from 225-237 of the Criminal Procedure Code basically deals with the warrant cases by a Court of Session.

In the case of Narotamdas L. Shah v. Pathak Nathalal Sukhram and Anr., the defendant was found guilty of defamation, and the witnesses were cross-examined. The magistrate decided that the case should be transferred, but the defendant insisted on another hearing of the witnesses, and the magistrate responded by saying that the defendant can only exercise this right during a trial, and this case was only in the inquiry stage.The Sessions Court judge believed that the demand made by the accused should not have been set aside. In this case, the Gujarat High Court ruled that the trial in warrant cases begins once the accused has been brought before the magistrate, nullifying the magistrate’s order in the process.

Sessions case- In such circumstances, the trial must be handled in a Sessions court after the matter has already been forwarded by a Magistrate to the Court or after the conduct of the crime. These are the cases where the offenses subject to penalty by law include death or life imprisonment for a duration longer than seven years.

Sections as mentioned in the Cr. P. C starting from 238-250 handles the warrant cases by Magistrates.

As ruled in the case of the Inspector of Police vs. R. Jeeva Jothi and Others, the Magistrate engaged in certain irregularities when conducting an investigation into a matter after receiving a final report from the Inspector of Police. As stated in the CrPC, when a magistrate receives a police report pursuant to section 190(b), the magistrate shall also take cognizance of the specific offense. Following consideration of the procedure and formalities outlined in sections 207 and 208, a Magistrate is required by section 209 to refer a case to the proper authorities who have proper jurisdiction over it after noting that it can only be handled in the Court of Sessions. In the current case, the Magistrate took into account all of the evidence and paperwork associated with the case and released the accused for the offenses listed under sections 307 and 450 of the IPC, which the Magistrate is not authorized to do and lacks the authority to do.

In this case, the Madras High Court questioned the magistrate’s competence and ruled that the magistrate’s decisions and procedures were illegal and improper in nature. The court held that the case should be sent to the Court of Sessions without further delay.

• Summons cases- These are the situations where offenses that carry a sentence of less than two years fall under the category of summons cases, and there is also no necessity to frame the charges in these situations. After determining certain instances, the Court issues a “notice” to the accused as evidence of the charge. If there is even the slightest chance that the charges in summons cases could be changed to warrant cases in the view of the magistrate for carrying out justice,.

In the case of Gulabjeet Singh & Ors vs Ravel Singh, the issue was that whether Section 258 can apply to the proceedings started under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act? Section 258 simply states the proceedings can only be stopped when the cases are filed other than a complaint, but when the prosecution has already established by the State, then this section would not be applicable and further elaborated that in such cases where a private party has filed a complaint then Sec. 258 wouldn’t be applicable. The petition was dismissed by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh.  

• Summary cases– In simple terms, summary trials are those types of trials where prompt justice must be served, which is those cases that must be resolved quickly and whose processes are extremely streamlined. One thing to keep in mind is that only minor offenses are considered for summary cases; matters that are complex in nature and quite large are saved for summons or warrant trials. One might easily bring up the idea that “justice delayed is justice denied” in cases of this nature. The fact that only the proceedings are recorded in summary trials and as a result, only a small portion of the proceedings are documented is a crucial procedural aspect of these types of trials. In contrast to ordinary trials, when the evidence and all other relevant materials are carefully evaluated, summary trials simply record the evidence and disposition in a quick manner..

The process by which offenders in warrant cases are brought before the magistrate

In warrant cases triable by the Magistrates, if the Magistrate does not find any ground to hold the accused as liable, then the Magistrate can discharge the accused but he has to provide reasons for the same. However, if the Magistrate has reason to believe that there are certain aspects of the case with which he can move forward, he or she will proceed with the case in accordance with Section 240 of the Criminal Procedure Code by framing the charges against the accused and, in accordance with Section 240(2), reading those charges to the accused before asking him or her whether they constitute a claim for prosecution or a plea of guilty.

Procedure of Court of Session

A Court of Session cannot directly take cognizance of the offence which is triable under their jurisdiction. The procedure for a trial before Court of Sessions is divided into many parts:

1. Section 225: The very first step of the process is to conduct a trial by a Public Prosecutor.
2. After the first step, under section 226 the prosecutor opens his/her case by presenting their opening statements and also explains the charges of the offence against the accused.
3. After listening to the statements made by the accused as well as the prosecution and after taking a note of the documents and records related to the case, if the judge thinks that the whole components were not enough to proceed against the accused, the judge under section 227 discharges the accused.
4. The court defines a charge under section 228 if the judge believes the documents, records, and statements of both parties were sufficient to establish the grounds for further proceedings against the accused. Now, two ideas enter the picture: first, the Court’s jurisdiction; if the case cannot be tried by the Court of Session, the judge may refer it to a higher authority, such as the Chief Judicial Magistrate or another Magistrate of the first class; second, if the Court has jurisdiction over the case, the judge will proceed by laying out the charges against the defendant.
5. If the accused has pleaded guilty for the offence committed by him, then the judge shall record and on his own judgement may convict the accused.
6. The judge fixes a date if the accused has refused to plea for the examination of the witnesses associated with the case.
7. After the date has been fixed, on that date the prosecution can be asked by the judge for the evidences which require their in-support. At this step, the cross-examination of the witnesses can also take place depending upon the judge’s discretion. This whole step is mentioned in the Section 231.
8. Section 232 of the code talks about the acquittal of the accused, if the examination of the accused, statements made by the prosecution as well as the defence fails to prove the charges against the accused.
9. If the accused is not acquitted, then under section 233 he may be called and might also be required to bring evidences in his favour.
10. Section 234 and 235 explains the part of arguments and deciding that whether the accused should be held liable or be released respectively.

Fair trial: What is it, and how does it affect the criminal justice system so significantly?

When discussing the nation’s system for delivering justice, one concern, or perhaps I should say a mocking, is raised regarding the lengthy and onerous process that frequently results in unfairness to the victims. The Nirbhaya case is the most well-known instance of delayed justice that comes to mind. The crime occurred in 2012, and the defendants were hanged to death in 2020.

So, the question arises that what is a fair trial? Has it anything related to the long time which a case takes to settle or whether the accused when in custody is provided with his rights and the list of question doesn’t end.

The Indian Constitution has given its citizens a fundamental right which is Right to free legal aid as prescribed in the Article 22(1). Not only the constitution, but also the CrPC has talked about it in the Section 304. Section 304 is ‘Legal aid to accused at State expenses in certain cases.’Simply put, Section 304 offers assistance to the accused. Sub-section (1) of this section states that whenever the accused is unable to represent himself via a pleader, the Court shall appoint a pleader to do so, with the State bearing all associated costs. The procedure for assigning the pleader to the accused, the method of appointing, the facilities, etc., are mainly covered in sub-section (2) of the section.

In a case that was decided, Kishore Singh Ravinder Dev v. State of Rajasthan, it was determined that the laws and rules outlined in India’s legal system had elaborate safeguards in place to protect the rights of the accused in order to preserve his (the accused’s) dignity as a human being and give him the benefit of a free, fair, and impartial trial.

The concept of a fair trial is connected to many ideas, perspectives, and theories. A fair trial not only means that justice should be served as soon as possible; it also means, as in the case of Zahira Habibullah Sheikh & Anr vs. State of Gujarat, that the principle of fair trial represents that the justice has been done without any biases, a trial has been taken in front of an impartial judge, and the parties involved in the case were given fair opportunities to present their case in court.In situations where society has questioned the judicial system, it is not required for the accused to always be held accountable for the allegations; rather, genuine and just justice would involve clearing the accused of all charges and giving him or her what is due.

Although there will always be a conflict of interest between the accused and society, the judge should always consider his own reasoning when making a decision in such cases. Every person has a right to a fair trial, which evolves daily, and the courts have also increased the dimensions related to the concept of fair trial. The concept of fair trial is a very broad and subjective one that cannot be limited to the various laws and rulings mentioned in the legal system.

Conclusion:

The concept of “trial” that are crucial for anyone working in the legal field to understand. The numerous offenses and penalties under the Indian criminal code have undergone a significant transformation, and as time goes on, more and more concepts will undoubtedly be investigated and added to the code.