Patna High Court Acquits Man In 18-Yr-Old Murder Case, Says Questions Put To Accused U/S 313 CrPC Can’t Be Mere Formality
Case: Dasrath Ram Vs. The State Of Bihar
Coram: Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Justice Nawneet Kumar Pandey
Case No.: Criminal Appeal (Db) No.648 Of 2019
Court Observation: “Examination of an accused under Section 313 of the CrPC is an important stage where the court precisely explains to the persons, put on trial, the incriminating materials emerging against him based on the evidence of the prosecution’s witnesses. A vague question was put to the appellant by the trial court as has been quoted above as if it was a mere formality which was being done to comply with the requirement of Section 313 of the CrPC.”
We could have chosen the option of remanding the matter back to the trial court for taking additional evidence and due compliance with Section 313 of the CrPC, but for the reason that it is an old matter and relates to an occurrence that had taken place, 18 years ago, we refrain from adopting such course. For the failure on the part of the prosecution to examine the doctor, the Investigating Officer and to prove the postmortem report at the trial which the appellant was facing, the benefit of the doubt shall have to be extended to him
“This appeal should succeed mainly on two aspects. Firstly, the trial court relied upon the deposition of the doctor in a different trial though arising out of the same judgment and order. Secondly, the trial court has taken into consideration such circumstances also which were not explained to the appellant while examining him under Section 313 of the CrPC, while holding him guilty of the offenses.”
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Patna High Court Acquits Man In 18-Yr-Old Murder Case
