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Hardeep Singh v. State of Punjab, (2014) 3 SCC 92

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
S. 319 - Object - Real culprit should not get away unpunished - This is a part of fair trial - Provision is based on doctrine
judex damnatur cum nocens absolvitur (Judge is condemned when guilty is acquitted) - Constructive and purposive
interpretation should be adopted so as to advance the object and cause of justice - Court should give full effect to words
used in the provision, (2014) 3 SCC 92-A

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Ss. 319, 300 and 398 - Power to proceed against persons not arraigned as accused, under S. 319 - When available Stage(s) at which may be exercised - Persons who may be proceeded against - Degree of satisfaction necessary for
court to exercise power under S. 319 - Discharged accused - When may be summoned - In the course of any inquiry
into, or trial of, an offence, if it appears from the evidence - Interpretation - Inquiry means pre-trial inquiry by court, thus
court can exercise power under S. 319 prior to commencement of trial, once court inquiry has commenced - Trial
commences after framing of charge - The word evidence in S. 319 CrPC has to be broadly understood and not literally as
evidence brought during a trial - Thus, materials which have come before court in course of inquiry can be used for (i)
corroboration of evidence recorded by court after commencement of trial, (ii) for exercise of power under S. 319, and (iii)
also to add an accused whose name is shown in Col. 2 of the charge-sheet - Statement made in examination-in-chief
constitutes evidence and court exercising power under S. 319 post commencement of trial need not wait for evidence
against person proposed to be summoned to be tested by cross-examination - Degree of satisfaction for invoking S. 319
should be of more than a prima facie case as exercised at time of framing of charge but short of satisfaction to an extent
that evidence, if not rebutted, may lead to conviction of person sought to be added as accused - Person not named in
FIR or though named in FIR but who has not been charge-sheeted can be summoned under S. 319 - But in case of
accused who has been discharged, requirements of Ss. 300 and 398 must be complied with before summoning him
afresh, (2014) 3 SCC 92-B

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
S. 319 - Stage(s) at which power can be exercised under - In the course of any inquiry into, or trial of, an offence Meaning of course - Power under S. 319 can be exercised at any time after commencement of inquiry into an offence by
court i.e. which commences before court with filing of charge-sheet/complaint before court and before conclusion of trial,
except during stage of Ss. 207 to 209 which is not a judicial step in the true sense - Word inquiry in S. 319 cannot be
treated as surplusage - Thus power under S. 319 can be exercised at court inquiry stage, since court has before it
material collected by prosecution, to which it can apply its mind to find out whether any person, who can be accused, has
been erroneously or deliberately not arraigned by prosecuting agency - In complaint cases also, when evidence of
complainant or his witnesses is recorded at the Ss. 200 to 202 stage, if any evidence against person other than
person(s) accused in complaint comes before court even before framing of charges or issuance of process, same can be
used to exercise power under S. 319 in respect of such person at inquiry stage under Ss. 200 to 204 - Degree of
satisfaction for invoking S. 319 during course of court inquiry stage (as also during course of trial stage), should be of
more than prima facie case as exercised at time of framing of charge but short of satisfaction to an extent that evidence,
if not rebutted, may lead to conviction of person sought to be added as accused, (2014) 3 SCC 92-C

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Ss. 319 and 2(g) - Inquiry by court and trial - Meaning - Distinction - Commencement of - Inquiry by court commences
after filing of charge-sheet/complaint and is the forerunner of trial - Trial commences upon framing of charges and
recording of evidence - The view taken in certain cases that in a criminal case, trial commences on cognizance being
taken, is overruled, (2014) 3 SCC 92-D

Criminal Law
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Criminal Procedure Code, 1973

Ss. 209, 207, 208 and 319 - Inquiry by court or trial - Stage of committal of case to Court of Session is neither stage of
inquiry nor of trial, (2014) 3 SCC 92-E

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Ss. 207 to 209 - Duties of Magistrate under - Administrative in nature - Application of mind distinguished from judicial
application of mind - Application of mind to the merits of the case, (2014) 3 SCC 92-F

Interpretation of Statutes
Basic Rules
When language of statute is plain and unambiguous, court should give effect to the same and should not go behind the
express language so as to add or subtract any word, (2014) 3 SCC 92-G

Interpretation of Statutes
Presumptions in Interpretation
Redundancy - No word in a statute should be treated as redundant or surplusage - Legislature is presumed to have
used words deliberately and consciously for carrying out purposes of statute, (2014) 3 SCC 92-H

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Ss. 193 and 319 - Power of Sessions Court to add person as accused under S. 193 - Reiterated, Sessions Court need
not necessarily wait till the stage of S. 319 is reached to direct a person, not facing trial, to appear and face trial as an
accused - S. 193 confers power of original jurisdiction upon the Sessions Court to add an accused once the case has
been committed to it, (2014) 3 SCC 92-I

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Ss. 190, 193, 319, 209, 200 to 202 and 204 - Arraignment of persons as accused under Ss. 190/193/319 - Competent
court - Offences whether exclusively triable by Sessions Court or not - For offences exclusively triable by Sessions Court,
held, Sessions Court alone is competent therefor, but from and during cognizance stage itself under S. 193 [as held in
Dharam Pal, (2014) 3 SCC 306] and then during course of court inquiry thereafter and trial under S. 319 - Magistrate at
the stage of Ss. 207 to 209 CrPC is forbidden, by express provision of S. 319, to apply his mind to the merits of the case
and determine as to whether any accused needs to be added or subtracted to face trial before the Court of Session Thus, for all other offences Court of Magistrate is competent to arraign person as accused from and during stage of
cognizance itself under Ss. 190/204 [as held by three-Judge Bench in Dharam Pal, (2004) 13 SCC 9 and two-Judge
Bench in SWIL Ltd., (2001) 6 SCC 670, both of which have been affirmed by the five-Judge Bench in Dharam Pal, (2014)
3 SCC 306] and then during course of court inquiry thereafter and trial under S. 319, (2014) 3 SCC 92-J

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Ss. 200 to 202 and 319 - Addition of accused other than persons named in complaint - Power of court under S. 319 in
respect of - Stages at which may be exercised - Held, power under S. 319 can be exercised both at court inquiry stage
under Ss. 200 to 202 and during trial, (2014) 3 SCC 92-K
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Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Ss. 319 and 200 to 202, 300(5) and 398 - Inquiry - Inquiries under Ss. 200 to 202, 300(5) and 398 are species of inquiry
contemplated under S. 319, (2014) 3 SCC 92-L

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Ss. 200 to 202 - Nature of material that comes before court at Ss. 200 to 202 stage, held, can qualify as evidence under
S. 3 Evidence Act, 1872, but as accused is not before court at that stage, such material can only be used for
corroboration of evidence proper led during the trial, (2014) 3 SCC 92-M

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Ss. 319 and 200 to 202 - Evidence for the purposes of exercising power under S. 319 to add accused - Held, the word
evidence in S. 319 CrPC has to be broadly understood and not literally as evidence brought during a trial - Thus,
evidence for purposes of S. 319 includes evidence proper, oral or documentary, adduced before court during trial, and
apart from such evidence, any material coming before court after taking of cognizance of offence and during inquiry by
court before commencement of trial, may not be evidence stricto sensu but can be utilised to corroborate evidence
recorded in court after commencement of trial and for exercising power under S. 319, (2014) 3 SCC 92-N

Evidence Act, 1872

S. 3 - Evidence - Definition is exhaustive, (2014) 3 SCC 92-O

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
S. 319 - Evidence for the purposes of exercising power under S. 319 during course of trial - Statement recorded in
examination-in-chief is evidence and material on basis of which court can form prima facie opinion about complicity of
some other person and necessity of bringing him to face trial in exercise of power - Court need not wait till that evidence
is tested upon cross-examination for exercise of power under S. 319 - In fact, power under S. 319 can be exercised at
any time after commencement of court inquiry into an offence i.e. which commences before court with filing of chargesheet/complaint before court and at any stage before conclusion of trial (see Shortnote C in detail) - In view of expression
such person could be tried in S. 319, a mini-trial by having examination and cross-examination is not contemplated at S.
319 CrPC stage as such mini-trial would affect right of person sought to be arraigned as accused, as under S. 319(4)
such person would be entitled to fresh trial, (2014) 3 SCC 92-P

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
S. 319 and Ss. 204, 227, 228, 239, 240, 241, 242 and 245 - Degree of satisfaction required for invoking power under S.
319 - It appears from the evidence - Meaning of appears - Degree of satisfaction for summoning a person under S. 319
contrasted with degree of satisfaction required to summon original accused - The court at the stage of framing of the
charge has to apply the test of prima facie case - However, at the S. 319 stage when summoning subsequent accused,
though only a prima facie case is to be established from the evidence led before the court, not necessarily tested on the
anvil of cross-examination, it requires much stronger evidence than mere probability of his complicity - Thus, the test that
has to be applied is one which is more than prima facie case as exercised at the time of framing of charge, but short of
satisfaction to an extent that the evidence, if goes unrebutted, would lead to conviction - The difference in the degree of
satisfaction for summoning the original accused and a subsequent accused is on account of the fact that the trial may
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have already commenced against the original accused and it is in the course of such trial that materials are disclosed
against the newly summoned accused - Fresh summoning of an accused will result in delay of the trial therefore the
degree of satisfaction for summoning the accused (original and subsequent) has to be different, (2014) 3 SCC 92-Q

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Ss. 319 and 193 - Persons whose names did not appear in FIR or in charge-sheet or did not appear in main part of
charge-sheet but appeared in Col. 2 thereof and who were not summoned as accused in exercise of power under S. 193,
held, can be summoned under S. 319, (2014) 3 SCC 92-R

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Ss. 319, 227, 258, 300(5) and 398 - Summoning/Arraigning of discharged person under S. 319 - When permissible There is no reason why inquiry as contemplated by S. 300(5) and S. 398 cannot be an inquiry under S. 319 Accordingly, a person discharged can also be arraigned again as an accused but only after an inquiry as contemplated
by Ss. 300(5) and 398 - If during or after such inquiry, there appears to be evidence against such person warranting his
arraignment as accused, power under S. 319 CrPC can be exercised, (2014) 3 SCC 92-S

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Ss. 319 and 2(g) - Court - Power to proceed against person, not being accused, under S. 319 is conferred on court and
not on any officer not acting as court - Only Court of Session or Court of Magistrate performing duties as competent court
may exercise power under S. 319, (2014) 3 SCC 92-T

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
S. 319 - Nature - Enabling provision, (2014) 3 SCC 92-U

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