Meaning of Trial

Trial is the process in a court of law where a judge or a magistrate listens to evidence and decides if somebody is guilty of a crime or not. A trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. There are 4 types of trial of offenses in the Indian legal system namely Trial by Court of Session, Trial of Warrant case, Trial of Summons case, Summary trials.

The term “trial” is not defined anywhere in the Code of Criminal Procedure, however, it means a commonly understood stage of trial that begins after the preparation of the charge and ends with conviction or acquittal.

1. Sessions Trial or Trial by court of Session: – If the offense committed is punishable with more than seven years of imprisonment or Life imprisonment or Death, the trial is to be conducted in a Sessions court after being committed or forwarded to the court by a magistrate.
2. Warrant Trial or Trial of Warrant cases: – Warrant case includes offence punishable with the death penalty, imprisonment for life and imprisonment exceeding two years.  A trial in a warrant case begins either by filing an FIR in a Police Station or by filing it before a Magistrate.
3. Summons Trial or Trial of Summons cases: – If the offense committed is punishable by imprisonment less than two years, it is treated as a summons case. In relation to this crime, it is not necessary to frame charges. The magistrate issues summons under section 204 (1) (a) of Cr.P.C, 1973. “Summons case” means a case related to the offense, not a case of a warrant.

4. Summary Trials: – The trials in which cases are disposed of rapidly and a simple procedure is followed and recording of such trials are done summarily. In this trial only small cases are taken up and complex cases are reserved for summons and warrant trials. The legal provisions for summary trial are given under section 260-265 of Cr.P.C, 1973.

Acquittal

Acquittal in general terms means that the accused is innocent and has not committed the offense he/she was accused of. The decision of acquittal is given by the judge after inspecting all the evidence and hearing arguments of the defense and the prosecution. It implies that no evidence has been brought up to prove that the accused has carried out an offense as per the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.