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Criminal Trial In India

There are three types of criminal trials in India - warrant trials, summons trials, and summary trials. Warrant trials are for offenses punishable by more than 2 years in prison and follow the most formal procedures. Summons trials are for offenses punishable by less than 2 years in prison and have simplified procedures compared to warrant trials. Summary trials are for offenses punishable by up to 6 months in prison and involve the most streamlined procedures of the three types.

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CRIMINAL TRIAL
INTRODUCTION The framework of rules and regulations that governs the administration of delivering justice to the society in cases which involves individuals who has been accused with a crime. The punishments for such crimes are decided by set rules/procedure of Criminal Trial.
In India, the guidelines of Criminal Trials are well established statutory, judicial and administrative framework. In India, Criminal Law consists of three Acts: 1.Indian Penal Code, 1860. 2.Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. 3.Indian Evidence Act,1873.
Indian Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code are known as the “twin sisters” of Criminal law. Cr. P.C. Is known to be procedural law for conducting Criminal Trial in India. The said Procedure includes
1. Collection of Evidence. 2. Examination of witnesses. 3. Interrogation of accused 4. Arrests 5. Bail. 6. Process of Criminal Trial.
TYPES OF CRIMINAL TRIALS WARRANT TRIALS (7 YEARS OR MORE) SUMMARY TRIALS (MAXIMUM 6 MONTHS) SUMMONS TRIALS (MAXIMUM 2 HOURS )
WARRANT CASES In accordance to Section 2(x) of the Cr. P.C., a warrant case is the type of case where the offences are punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term more than 2 years. In warrant cases, the trial starts by filing F.I.R. In Police Station or by filing complaint to the Magistrate.
After that if the Magistrate is satisfied that the offence is punishable for more than 2 years, he sends the case to the Sessions court for trial. The process of sending the case to the Sessions court by the Magistrate is known as committing it to the Sessions court”. The stages of procedure of trial in warrant cases are given from Section 238 to 250 of the Cr.P.C.
IMPORTANT FEATURES OF WARRANT CASES Charges against the accused must be mentioned in Warrant case. Physical appearance of the accused infront of the court of law is mandatory. Cases under Warrant cases cannot be converted into Summon Cases.
The accused has the authority that he can cross examine the witness more than once. The Magistrate should ensure that the provisions of Section 207 of Criminal Procedure Code are followed.
STAGES OF CRMINAL TRIAL IN WARRANT CASES 1. First Information Report: The very first step of Criminal Trial is the registration of F.I.R. Under section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, an F.I.R. is an Information given by someone who may or may not be the victim, to the police related to the commitment of offence.
2. Investigation: Once an F.I.R. is filed the next step is investigation by the on duty investigating officer. A concluding report is made by the investigating officer which includes various facts and findings related to the case like new facts, evidences, circumstances, examining various persons and recording their statements in writing and all other steps required for the
completion of the investigation. All these findings are then made in the form of a police report which is submitted to the Magistrate. 3. Charges: After the evaluation of the Police Report if the accused is not discharged from the liabilities, the court frames charges under which he shall be prosecuted in the court of law. The charges must be in writing.
4. Plea of Guilty: Under section 241 of the Cr. P.C., the accused after he is framed by charges has a right to plead for guilty, and the responsibility lies with the judge to ensure that the plea was made voluntarily without any use of any sort of force. The judge after ensuring upon all these facts may convict the accused.
5. Prosecution of Evidence: After the plea of guilty, the court requires the Prosecution to present evidence in order to prove the accused guilty. The evidences produced must go along with the statements of the witnesses. This process of evaluation is known as “Examination in chief”. The Magistrate is authorized to summon orders to the witnesses to produce relevant documents in accordance with the case.
6. Statement of the Accused: According to the section 313 of the Cr. P.C. the court gives an opportunity to the accused to be heard and present the facts and circumstances of the case by his vision. The statements of accused are not recorded under oath which may or may not be used against him in the trial.
7. Defense evidence: Fair and equal opportunity is provided to the accused in a case so as to defend himself. The defense can include both oral and documentary evidence. In India, the burden of proof is on the prosecution in general, is not requisite to give any evidence.
8. Judgment: The final decision given by the court of law with reasonable thoughts support of the acquittal or conviction of the accused is known as judgment. If the accused is acquitted, the prosecution is given reasonable time to raise appeal against the order of the court. When the person is convicted, then both sides are invited to give arguments on the punishment which is to be awarded. This is usually done when the person is convicted of an offense whose punishment is life imprisonment or capital punishment.
SUMMONS CASES In accordance to Section 2(w) of Cr.P.C., 1973, Those cases in which an offense is punishable with an imprisonment of less than two years is known as summon case. A summon case in general doesn’t require preparation of the evidence. Interestingly, a summon case can be converted into a warrant case by the magistrate if after looking into the case the judge thinks that the given case doesn't come under the category of the summons case.
The cases under this are comparatively less serious than the warrant cases and thus the punishment is less than 2 years.
IMPORTANT POINTS OFSUMMARYTRIAL 1. Unlike warrant cases which are not convertible, summons case can be converted into a warrant case on the discretion of judge. 2. The person accused does not need to be present personally. The person accused should be informed about the charges orally. Written charges are not compulsory.
3. The accused gets only single opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses. The stages of criminal trial in a summon case are given under the Section 251 to Section 259 of the Code of Criminal procedure.
STAGES IN A CRIMINAL TRIAL UNDER SUMMON TRIALS 1. Pre-trial: In the pre-trial, just like any other trial, the F.I.R. is filed and investigation is conducted on the basis of facts submitted under the F.I.R. 2. Charges: In summons trials, charges are framed orally. The accused appears before the court or then the Magistrate orally states the facts of the offense to which he is answerable.
3. Plea of guilty: The Magistrate after stating all the facts of the offense asks the accused whether he pleads guilty or has any sort of defense or evidence to support his case. If the accused pleads guilty, the Magistrate records his statement in the exact words of the accused convict him on his discretion.
4. Plea of guilty and absence of the accused: In cases, wherein the accused pleads guilty without appearing in the court, is required to send Rs.1000/- by post or through a messenger to the Magistrate. The absentee should also send a letter as an acceptance of guilt and the requist amount of fine provided in the summons. The Magistrate on his discretion can convict the accused.
5. Prosecution and defense evidence: In summons case, the procedure followed by the courts is very simple and long hefty procedures are eliminated. If the accused does not pleads himself guilty, then the process of trial starts. The prosecution and the defense are asked to submit or provide evidence in support of their cases. The Magistrate has the authority to take the statement of the accused.
6. Judgement: When the sentence is delivered in a summons case, the parties are not required to argue upon the amount of punishment given. The sentence is only on the discretion of the judge. If the accused is acquitted, the prosecution has the sole right to appeal in the higher courts. This right to appeal is also extended to the accused, that he can go to the Appellate Court incase he thinks that the decision taken by the court or the Magistrate has failed to provide him justice anyhow.
SUMMARY TRIAL • Cases under the summary Trial generally take only one or two hearings to decide the matter. The summary trials are generally for the small offenses to reduce the burden on courts and to save everyone's time and money. Those cases in which an offense is punishable with not more than 6 months of imprisonment are tried in a summary way.
The point worth noticing is that, if the case is being tried in a summary way, the person cannot be awarded a punishment of imprisonment for more than 3 months. • The trial procedure of Summary Court is provided under Section 260 to Section 265 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
STAGES OF CRIMINAL TRIAL UNDER SUMMARY TRIAL 1. Pre-trial: In the pre-trial, just like any other trial, the F.I.R. is filed and investigation is conducted on the basis of facts submitted under the F.I.R. 2. Charges: In summons trials, charges are framed orally. The accused appears before the court or then the Magistrate orally states the facts of the offense to which he is answerable.
3. Plea of guilty: The Magistrate after stating all the facts of the offense asks the accused whether he pleads guilty or has any sort of defense or evidence to support his case. If the accused pleads guilty, the Magistrate records his statement in the exact words of the accused convict him on his discretion.
4. Plea of guilty and absence of the accused: In cases, wherein the accused pleads guilty without appearing in the court, is required to send Rs.1000/- by post or through a messenger to the Magistrate. The absentee should also send a letter as an acceptance of guilt and the request amount of fine provided in the summons. The Magistrate on his discretion can convict the accused. For not more than 3 Months of imprisonment.
5. Prosecution and defense evidence: In summons case, the procedure followed by the courts is very simple and long hefty procedures are eliminated. If the accused does not pleads himself guilty, then the process of trial starts. The prosecution and the defense are asked to submit or provide evidence in support of their cases. The Magistrate has the authority to take the statement of the accused.
6. Judgement: When the sentence is delivered in a summons case, the parties are not required to argue upon the amount of punishment given. The sentence is only on the discretion of the judge, the judge is required to record the substance of the evidence and statement of the finding of the court with reasons. If the accused is acquitted, the prosecution has the sole right to appeal in the higher courts.
• This right to appeal is also extended to the accused, that he can go to the Appellate Court incase he thinks that the decision taken by the court or the Magistrate has failed to provide him justice anyhow.