Joinder of Charges under CrPC

23 April 2024Posted inCriminal law
The Section 218 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) insists that there would be separate trial for separate charges and that every distinct offence a person is accused of shall be charged separately, says the High court of Kerala in Santosh @ Chandu v State [2024 (1) KLD 714] .

Evidence must be Construed in favour of the Accused

5 April 2024Posted inCriminal law
On the basis of evidence on record in a court proceeding, if two equally sustainable views - one in favourable to the accused and the other against him - are equally possible, the court should take the one that is favourable to the accused, but not the other, says the Supreme Court (SC) in Chandrappa & Others v State of Karnataka

Stay Orders will not Expire in Six months: SC

5 April 2024Posted inCivil law, Criminal law
In High Court Bar Association Allahabad v State Of Uttar Pradesh & Ors, a Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on 29th February 2024 overturned its 2018 Asian Resurfacing judgment which mandated that the interim orders passed by High Courts staying trials in civil and criminal cases will automatically expire after six months from the date of the order, unless expressly extended by the High Courts.

Conviction based on Testimony of Sole Witness

31 March 2024Posted inCriminal law
A conviction of an accused can be recorded based on the testimony of the single witness. While doing so the court must be satisfied that the testimony of the sole witness is of sterling quality, free from any blemish or suspicion to connect solely on the testimony of single witness [Bhimappa Chandrappa Hosamani v State of Karnataka : 2006 AIR SC 5043].

Child Witnesses : Reliability of their Evidence

22 February 2024Posted inCriminal law, Evidence law
All persons are competent to testify as a witness under Section 118 of the Indian Evidence Act. But a person who is unable to understand the question put to him or to give relational answer to the question owning to tender age, extreme old age, disease of mind or body or any other cause is not a competent witness. In criminal case, the basic test of competence is whether the person is able to understand questions put to him as a witness and give answers to them which can be understood.