Holding

A trial court is not required to record reasons when framing charges; the High Court’s direction to do so was unlawful.

Summary

The appellant, the mother of a deceased youth, appealed against the Delhi High Court’s order that quashed the murder charge (IPC s.302) framed against the accused and directed the trial court to give detailed reasons for framing charges. The Supreme Court held that under Sections 227 and 228 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a trial court is required to record reasons only when it discharges an accused, not when it frames charges. Consequently, the High Court’s direction to the trial court to provide reasons for framing charges was erroneous. The Court affirmed that at the charge‑framing stage the court need only ascertain a prima facie case and is not obliged to scrutinise the evidence in detail. The appeal was allowed, the High Court order set aside, and the trial court’s charge‑framing upheld.

Issues considered

Whether a trial court must record reasons when framing charges under Section 228 of the CrPC.
Whether the High Court can direct the trial court to give detailed reasons for framing charges.
Whether the evidence, including the post‑mortem report, suffices to frame a charge of murder under IPC s.302.

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 227, s. 228, s. 245
Indian Evidence Act, 1872s. 32
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 147, s. 148, s. 149, s. 302

Subjects

Criminal ProcedureSection 227Section 228Framing of chargesDischarge of accusedPrima facie caseMurderEvidencePost‑mortem reportHigh Court interference

Judgment

A SMT. OM WAT! AND ANR.
v.
STATE. THROUGH DELHI ADMN. AND ORS. t -
MARCH 19, 2001

B [K.T. THOMAS AND R.P. SETHI, JJ.]

Code o.f Criminal Pmcedure, 1973 : Sections 227 and 228.

Framing of charge-Reasons for-Requirement of-Trial court framed
charges against the accused-But High Court quashed the charges and directed
c trial coutt to give reasons-Correctness o,f-Held: Reasons are required to be
recoded only lvhen the accused is discharged-No reasons are required lvhen
charges arefra1ned against the accused-The trial cou1r& not required to rne-
ticulously consider the evidence at the time offraming~fcharges-Hence, High
Coun erred in directing tlze trial cou11 to give reasons.forfra1ning of charges.
D
The appellant's son was heaten to death hy the accused-respondents.
The trial court framed charges against the accused persons. The High
Court quashed the charge and directed the trial court to give reasons for
framing of the charges. Thereafter, the trial court as per a detailed order
framed charges against the respondents under Sections 302, 147 and 148
E read with Section 149 of the Penal Code, 1860. The High Court disposed of
the respondents' Criminal Revision Petition with the observation that no
charge under Section 302 IPC was made out. Hence this appeal.

Allowing the appeal, the Court

F HELD : 1. Section 227 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
provides that if upon consideration of the recorc) of the case and the
documents submitted therewith, the Judge considers that there is no sufli-
cient ground for proceeding against the accused, he shall discharge the
accused for which he is required to record his reasons for so doing. No
G reasons are required to be recorded when the charges are framed against
the accused persons. [486-C-D]

Kanti Bhadra Shah v. State of West Benga4 [2000] 1SCC722, referred
to. ,.
.H 2. At the stage of passing the order in terms of Section 227 of the
482
OM WAT! v. STATE THROUGH DELHI ADMN. 483
Code, the Court has merely to peruse the evidence in order to find out A
t whether or not there is a sufficient ground for proceeding against the
accused. H upon consideration, the court is satisfied that a prima facie case
is made out against the accused, the Judge must proceed to frame charge
in terms of Sction 228 ofthe Code. Only in a case where it is shown that the
evidence which the prosecution proposes to adduce to prove the guilt of the
B
accused, even if fully accepted before it is challenged in cross-examination
or rebutted by defence evidence cannot show that the accused committed
the crime, then and then alone the court can discharge the accused. The
court is not required to enter into meticulous consideration of evidence
and material placed before it at this stage. [487-D-F]
c
Stree Atyachar Virodhi Parishad v. Dilip Nethuma Chordia, [1989] 1
SCC 716; State of Bihar v. Ramesh Singh, AIR (1977) SC 2018; SupdJ. &
Remembrancer of Legal Affairs, West Bengal v. Anil Kumar Bhunja, AIR
(1980) SC 52 and Satish Mehra v. Delhi Administration, [1996] 9 SCC 766,
referred to.
D
3. The trial court, in the instant case, rightly held that merely on
account of the observations and the opinion incorporated in the post-
mortem report, the prosecution could not be deprived of its right to prove
that the accused were guilty of the offence for which the final report had
-~
been filed against them. It is not safe, at this stage, to deprive the prosecu- E
lion in proving its case on the basis of the direct evidence, the statement of
the deceased claimed to be admissible under Section 32 of the Evidence
Act, 1872 and the other documents including the inquest report allegedly
disclosing the infliction of injuries on the person of the deceased which
•
resulted in his death. [490-B-D)
F
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 304
of 2001.

From the Judgment and Order dated 29.8.2000 of the Delhi High Court
in Crl. R. No. 87 of 1998.
G
R. K. Handoo, P. Ojha, K. V Mohan and R.P. Ranjan for the Appellants.

Ranjit Kr. and Ms. Binu Tamta for the Respcndent Nos. 2-5.

B.A. Mohanti, A. Mariarputham, Arona Mathur and D.S. Mabra for the
Respondent No. I. H
484 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2001] 2 S.C.R.
A The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

SEIBI, J. Leave granted.

The present case reflects and demonstrates the abuse of the process of
the court by the accused persons who have. succeeded in protracting the
B commencement of trial against them for about a decade. The accused have
left no stone unturned to exploit the procedural wrangles to defeat the ends
of justice. A learned Single Judge of the High Court of Delhi appears to have
fallen a prey to the procrastinative designs of the accused-respondent, as is
evident from the cryptic order passed on 29th August, 2000 which is
impugned in this appeal by special leave filed by the mother of the deceased
c after seeking permission from this Court. The impugned order not only
reflects the non application of mind by the learned Single Judge of the High
Court while discharging the respondents for the offence punishable under
Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code but also demonstrates the ignoring of
the correct position of law applicable on the point and catena of judgments
D pronounced by this Court on the subject.

The facts of the case are that in an occurrence which took place ou
6.9.1991, Rajesh Kumar, the son of the appellant was beaten to death by
the accused persons who were alleged to have attacked him with weapons
like Hockey Sticks, Lathis and Iron Chain of Bullet Motorcycle. The accused
E persons are stated to have been arrested after some days and their application
for bail was dismissed by the trial court on 23rd December, 1991. The
Additional Sessions Judge, being the trial court framed charges against
all the accused persons on 16.7.1992 against which a petition was filed
in the High Court. It is not clear but it is admitted that meanwhile the
• accused were released on bail by the High Court. The Criminal Revision
F
No.97 of 1992 filed by the respondents was disposed of by the High Court
after four years by quashing charges framed with direction to the trial court
to pass "an order delineating reasons in sufficient detail to lend assurance
to the accused, the public and the court that sufficient judicial thought
is at its back". Again on 4.2.1998, the trial court as per a detailed
G order directed the framing of charges against the accused persons under
Sections 302, 147, 148 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code. The
accused respondents who were on bail again ventured to accomplish their
design of frustrating the judicial process by filing a Revision Petition No.87
of 1998 which has been disposed of by the High Court as per the following
H order:
OM WATI v. STATE THROUGH DEL!Il ADMN. [SET!Il, J.] 485
"Heard learned counsel for the petitioners as also learned counsel for A
the State and perused the documents on record, in particular, the post-
mortem report, I am of the view that the charge under Section 302
!PC cannot be made out. In this view of the matter, I quash the charge
framed under Section 302 !PC and direct the trial court to re-frame
the charge in accordance with law based upon material on record. The
revision petition is allowed."
B

While issuing notice on 11.12.2000, we suspended the impugned order
of the High Court and directed the trial court to proceed with the case. We
further directed the trial court to permit the counsel of the mother of the
deceased to assist the Public Prosecutor if any application is filed in that c
behalf.

Justifying the impugned order Shri Ranjit Kumar, learned Senior
Counsel argued that as there was no evidence, worth the name to connect the
accused with the commission of the crime, the High Court was justified in
passing the order. He, however, was frauk in conceding that the order passed D
by the High Court was not a speaking order. It was contended on behalf of
the acc1rned persons that as the post-mortem report did not indicate any head
injury on the deceased and the doctors had further opined that "the death in
this case is possibly by hepatic failure following riral hapatites", there was
no necessity of putting the accused to trial. Learned counsel, however, has
E
been very cautious not to argue on merits and rightly so because any comment

-
by us on the merits is likely to prejudice the case of the accused or the
-"""" prosecution.

Before dealing with the position of law, s~me facts are necessary to be
noticed at this stage. As per the FIR lodged by the appellant on 7.9.1991, F
the deceased had objected to the conduct of accused Balraj, Narender and
Vijay for having an evil eye on his cousin sister whom the aforesaid three
accused used to tease and abuse whenever they got the opportunity. The
deceased was subjected to the beating by the aforesaid accused persons in
the month of July, 1991 regarding which a report was lodged with the police.
G
After knowing about the beating of his son on the day of occurrence, the
appellant is stated to have rushed to the spot where her son told that accused
Balraj had given a Hockey blow on his head, accused Narender had given
beating with chain of Bullet Motorcycle and accused Vijay assaulted him with
a lathi on the instigation of other accused persons. Statement of one Ashok
Kumar, under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter H
486 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] 2 S.C.R.
A referred to as "the Code"), who claimed to be an eye-witness, was recorded
by the police on 7.9.1991 wherein he had supported what the appellant had
stated about the infliction of injuries on her son. The accused persons and
the deceased were arrested by the Police under Sections 1071151 of the Code.
As he was beaten by the accused persons, the deceased complained of pain
on all parts of his body which necessitated his admission in Deen Dayal
B
Upadyay Hospital wherefrom he was referred to Ram Manohar Lohia Hos-
pital, where he died at about 5 a.m. on 7.9.1991. After investigation, the fmal
report was submitted against the accused persons who were charged by the
trial court by passing a detailed order firstly on 23rd December, 1991 and
after remand on 4.2.1998. The trial court dealt with all the arguments
c addressed before it and held that prima Jacie there was sufficient evidence
to frame charges against the accused persons under various sections of the
IPC as noticed hereinabove.

Section 227 of the Code provides that if upon consideration of record of
the case and the documents submitted therewit11, the Judge considers that there
D is no sufficient ground for proceeding against 'the accused, he shall discharge
the accused for which he is required to record his reasons for so doing. No
reasons are required to be recorded when the charges are framed against the
accused persons. This Court in Kanti Bhadra Shah & Anr. v. State of West
Bengal, [2000] l sec 722, held that there is no legal requirement that the trial
E . court should write an order showing the reasons for framing a charge. Taking
note of the burden of the pending cases on the courts, it was held:

F
"Even in cases instituted otherwise than on a police report the
Magistrate is required to write an order showing the reasons only if
he is to discharge the accused. This is clear from Section 245. As per
the first sub-section of Section 245, if a Magistrate, after taking all
the evidence considers that no case against the accused has been made
-
,,,_.

out which if unrebutted would warrant his conviction, he shall
discharge the accused. As per sub-section (2) the Magistrate is
empowered to discharge the accused at any previous stage of the case
if he considers the charge to be gro'jdless. Under both sub-sections
G
he is obliged to record his reasons fw doing so. In this context it is
pertine,nt to point out that even in a trial before a court of session, the
Judge is required to record reasons only if he decides to discharge the
accused (vide Section 227 of the Code). But if he is to frame the
charge he may do so without recording his reasons for showing why
H he framed the charge.
OM WATI v. STATE THROUGH DELHI ADMN. [SETHI, J.] 487
If there is no legal requirement that the trial court should write an A
order showing the reasons for framing a charge, why should the
already burdened trial courts be further burdened with such an extra
work. The time has reached to adopt all possible measures to expedite
the court procedures and to chalk out measures to avert all roadblocks
causing avoidable delays. If a Magistrate is to write detailed orders
B
at different stages merely because the counsel would address argu-
ments at all stages, the snail-paced progress of proceedings in trial
courts would further be slowed down. We are coming across inter-
locutory orders of Magistrates and Sessions Judges running into
several pages. We can appreciate if such a detailed order has been
passed for culminating the proceedings before them. But it is quite c
unnecessary to write detailed orders at this stage, such as issuing
process, remanding the accused to custody, framing of charges,
passing over to next stages in the trial. It is a salutary guideline that
when orders rejecting or granting bail are passed, the court should
avoid expressing one way or the other on contentious issues, except
D
in cases such as those falling within Section 37 of the Narcotic Drugs
and psychotropic Substances Act, 1985".

At the stage of passing the order in terms of Section 227 of the Code,
the Court has merely to peruse the evidence in order to find out whether or
not there is a sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused. If upon E
consideration, the court is satisfied that a primafacie case is made out against
the accused, the Judge must proceed to frame charge in terms of Section 228
of the Code. Only in a case where it is shown that the evidence which the
prosecution proposes to adduce to prove the guilt of the accused, even if fully
accepted before it is challenged in cross-examination or rebutted by defence
F
evidence cannot show that the accused committed the crime, then and then
alone the court can discharge the accused. The court is not required to enter
into meticulous consideration of evidence and material placed before it at this
stage. This Court in Stree Atyachar Virodhi Parishad v. Dilip Nathumal
Chordia & Anr., [1989] l SCC 715, cautioned the High Courts to be loathe
in interfering at the stage of framing the charges against the accused. Self- G
restraint on the part of the High Court should be the rule unless there is a
glaring injustice staring the court in the face. The opinion on many matters
can differ depending upon the person who views it. There may be as many
opinions on a particular point, as there are courts but that would not justify
the High Court to interdict the trial. Generally, it would be appropriate for H
488 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2001] 2 S.C.R.
A the High Court to allow the trial to proceed.

Dealing with the scope of Sections 227 and 228 of the Code and the
limitations imposed npon the court at the initial stage of framing the charge,
this Court in State of Bihar v. Ramesh Singh, AIR_ (1977) SC 2018 held:

B "Reading the two provisions together in juxtaposition, as they have got
to be, it would be clear that at the beginning and the initial stage of the
trial the truth, veracity and effect of the evidence which the prosecutor
proposes to adduce are not to be meticulously judged. Nor is any
weight to be attached to the probable defence of the accused. It is not
c obligatory for the Judge at that stage of the trial to consider in any
detail and weigh in a sensitive balance whether the facts, if proved,
would be incompatible with the innocence of the accused or not. The
standard of test and judgment which is to be finally applied before
recording a finding regarding the guilt or otl1e1wise of the accused is
not exactly to be applied at this stage of deciding the matter under
D S.227 or S.228 of the Code. At that stage the court is not to see whether
there is sufficient ground for conviction of the accused or whether the
trial is sure to end in his conviction. Strong suspicion against the
accused, if the matter remains in the region of suspicion, cannot take
the place of proof of his guilt at the conclusion of the trial. But at the
E initial stage if there is a strong suspicion which leads the court to think
that there is ground for presuming that the accused has committed an
offence then it is not open to the court to say that there is no sufficient
ground for proceeding against the accused. The presumption of the
guilt of the accused which is to be drawn at the initial stage is not in
the sense of the law governing the trial of criminal cases in France
F
where the accused is presumed to be guilty unless the contrary is
proved. But it is only for the purpose of deciding primafacie whether
the court should proceed with the trial or not. If the evidence which the
Prosecutor proposes to adduce to prove the guilt of the accused even
if fully accepted before it is challenged in cross-examination or rebut-
G ted by the defence, if any, cannot show that the accused committed the
offence, there will be no sufficient ground for proceeding with the
trial. An exhaustive list of the circumstances to indicate as to what will
lead to one conclusion or the other is neither possible nor advisable.
We may just illustrate the difference of the law by one more example.
H If the scales of pan as to the guilt or innocence of the accused are
OM WATI v. STATE THROUGH DELHI ADMN. [SETm, J.] 489
something like even at the conclusion of the trial, then, on the theory A
of benefit of doubt the case is to end in his acquittal. But if, on the other
hand, it is so at the initial stage of making an order under S.227 or
S.228, then in such a situation ordinarily and generally the order which
will have to be made will be one under S.228 and not under S.227."

A three-Judge Bench of this Court in Supdt. & Rew.embrancer of Legal B
Affairs, West Bengal v. Anil Kumar Bhunja & Ors., AIR (1980) SC 52,
reminded the courts that at the initial stage of framing of charges, the
prosecution evidence does not commence. The Court has, therefore, to
consider the question of framing the charges on general considerations of the
material placed before it by the investigating agency. At this stage, the trnth, c
veracity and effect of the judgment which the prosecution proposes to adduce
are not to be meticulously judged. The standard of test, proof and judgment
which is to be applied finally before finding an accused guilty or otherwise
is not exactly to be applied at the stage of framing the charge. Even on the
basis of a strong suspicion founded on materials before it, the court can form
a presumptive opinion regarding the existence of factual ingredients consti-
D
tuting the offence alleged and in that event be justified in framing the charges
against the accused in respect of the commission of the ofJence alleged to
have been committed by them. Relying upon its earlier judgments in Ramesh
Singh and Anil Kumar Bhunja's cases (supra) this Court again in Satish
Mehra v. Delhi AdministraJion, [1996] 9 SCC 766 reiterated: E
"Considerations wJrich should weigh with the Sessions Court at this
stage have been well designed by Parliament through Section 227 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short 'the Code') which reads
thus:
F
"227. Discharge - If upon consideration of the record of tl1e
case and the documents submitted therewith, and after hearing
the submissions of the accused and the prosecution in this behalf,
the Judge considers that there is not sufficient ground for pro-
ceeding against the accused, he shall discharge the accused and
G
record his reasons for so doing."

Section 228 contemplates the stage after the case survives the stage
envisaged in the former section. When the court is of opinion that
there is ground to presume that the accused has committed an offence
the procedure laid down therein has to be adopted. When those two H
490 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2001] 2 S.C.R.
A sections are put in juxtaposition with each other the test to be adopted
becomes discernible: Is there sufficient ground for proceeding against
the accused? It is axiomatic that the standard of proof normally
adhered to at the final stage is not to be applied at the stage where
the scope of consideration is where there is "sufficient ground for
proceeding''.
B
The trial court, in the instant case, rightly held that merely on account
of the observations and the opinion incorporated in the post- mortem report,
the prosecution could not be deprived of its right to prove that accused were
guilty of the offence for which the final report had been filed against them.
c There was no ground for the High Court to interfere with the well reasoned
order of the trial court by passing a cryptic and telegraphic order which is
impugned in this appeal. It is not safe, at this stage, to deprive the prosecution
in proving its case on the basis of the direct evidence, the statement of the
deceased claimed to be admissible under Section 32 of the Evidence Act and
the other documents including the inquest report allegedly disclosing the
D infliction of injuries on the person of the deceased which resulted in his death.
The acceptance of the opinion of the doctors, as incorporated in the post-
mortem report for the cause of death of the deceased being "hepatic failure
following riral hapatites" cannot be accepted on its face value at this initial
stage.
E
We allow this appeal by setting aside the order of the High Court and
upholding the order of the trial court. We would again remind the High Courts
of their statutory obligation to not to interfere at the initial stage of framing
the charges merely on hypothesis, imagination and far-fetched reasons which
in Jaw amount to interdicting the trial against the accused persons. Unscru-
F pulous litigants should be discouraged from prolrncting the trial and prevent-
ing culmination of the criminal cases by having resort to uncalled for and
unjustified litigation under the cloak of technicalities of law.

It is, however, made clear that while deciding the instant case fmally,
the trial court will not be influenced by any of the observations made by us
G for the limited purposes of finding out the existence of a prima Jacie case
against the accused, which is allowed to proceed against them in the trial
court.

V.S.S. Appeal allowed.