Criminal law

Investigation conducted by the informant / police officer, who is the complainant, is not vitiated because of the sole reason that the informant is the investigator, says the Supreme court (SC) in Mukesh Singh v State (Narcotic Branch of Delhi) .

The names and addresses of the victim and the accused should not be printed or published in relation to the inquiry or trial of rape or any offence under Section 376, 376A, 376C, 376D or 376E of Indian Penal Code (IPC) without the previous permission of the court, says the High Court of Kerala in Saleel Raveendran v Union of India.

President gives assent to the following three criminal law bills on 25th December 2023.. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 which proposes to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 which proposes to replace the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and The Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita 2023 which seeks to replace the Indian Evidence Act.

The evidence act, in its Section 5, states that evidence may be given of existence or non-existence of any fact in issue and other relevant facts (declared to be relevant by the act) and of no other matter.

A complaint case is a case filed before a Magistrate, orally or in writing, by a complainant alleging commission of an offence by a known or unknown person, with a view to taking an action by him, under Section 190 (1) (a) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC). A complaint is a statement of facts which constitutes an offence.

When a criminal case is instituted against a person on a police report the accused has the right to get a copy each of the First Information Report (FIR), statements of witnesses recorded by the police, the police report and other records filed along with the police report. This is an obligation of the Magistrate under Section 207 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC).  

Challans or Charge Sheets filed by police under Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) cannot be put on public domain or website, says the Supreme Court in Sarav Das v Union of India [2023 (1) KHC 451 (SC)].

An accused has the right to get copies of (or examine) the unmarked and unexhibited documents, which are not being relied on by the prosecution, in a criminal proceeding, as per the Supreme Court ( SC) judgement in V K Sasikala v State Rep. By Superintendent Of Police and some other related judgements.

The trial judge usually cannot examine any material produced by the accused at the time of charge framing or discharge of the accused, says the Supreme Court (SC) in State of Orissa v Debendra Nath Padhi.

On a reference for confirmation of sentence of death, the High Court is required to proceed in accordance with Sections 367 and 368 respectively of the CrPC and the provisions of these Sections make it clear that the duty of the High Court, in dealing with the reference, is not only to see whether the order passed by the Sessions Judge is correct, but to examine the case for itself and even direct a further enquiry or the taking of additional evidence if the Court considers it desirable in order to ascertain the guilt or the innocence of the convicted person.