The term trial has not been defined in the Code of Criminal Procedure. According to Wharton’s Law Lexicon, ‘trial’ means the hearing of a case, civil or criminal, before a judge who has jurisdiction over it, according to the laws of the land. A trial means only the proceeding taken in Court after a charge has been drawn up. Trial means the judicial process in accordance with law whereby the question of guilt or innocence of the person accused of any offence is determined.
Trial is a judicial proceeding which commences when the case is called on with the Magistrate on the Bench and the accused on the dock and the representatives for the prosecution and the accused are present in Court for the hearing of the case. Arguments are part of the trial.
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A trial ends in conviction or acquittal. A trial does not include judgment. The term trial includes appeal and revision which are a continuation of the first trial. A trial is the conclusion, by a competent tribunal, of questions in issue in legal proceedings, whether civil or criminal. A trial means all proceedings including the sentence. Hence, trial is not concluded until judgment and sentence are passed.
The following are the distinctions between investigation and trial:
(1) First investigation starts and then the trial is founded on the investigation.
(2) An investigation is administrative while a trial is judicial.
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(3) Investigation is the function of police while a trial is the function of judiciary and these functions are complementary, not overlapping.