Legal Provisions of Section 211 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.), India.
Contents of charge:
In all criminal trials under the Code the accused is informed of the accusations against him in the form of ‘charge’ which is formulated with great precision and clarity. Thus ‘charge’ serves as a notice or information to the accused and contains accusations which the accused is called upon to face in his criminal trial.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Since charge is the very foundation of the accusation, it must be carefully framed. The charge is framed by the Court and it may alter or add to any charge at any time before the judgment is pronounced. Once a charge has been framed against a person, he is either to be convicted or acquitted, and the Court cannot drop it undecided.
The charge drawn up by the Court (Magistrate) must show material on record which makes out a prima facie case against the accused otherwise it may amount to non- application of mind on the part of the Magistrate and the order framing such charge is liable to be set aside.
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Again, simply mentioning the relevant sections of IPC without stating the substance of charge will amount to blatant violation of procedure set out in Section 211. Any defect in the framing of a charge is bound to vitiate the conviction of the accused. If the charge-sheet does not make out a prima facie case, then framing of such charge-sheet amounts to illegal exercise of jurisdiction.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
A charge should be so framed as to refer to the section of the IPC under which the offence is punishable. Thus where the Magistrate framed a charge under Section 120A, IPC against the accused, it was held that he was wholly in error as this section simply defines ‘criminal conspiracy’ which is punishable under Section 120-B, IPC. He should have quoted Section 120-B in the charge instead of Section 120-A of IPC.
Where there are more than one accused in a case, the trial Court should consider the case of each and every accused individually for finding out as to which of the offence was prima facie made out against each and all of them.
Sub-section 7 provides that where it is intended to prove a previous conviction for the purpose of enhancing the punishment, it should be entered in the charge and the accused should be provided an opportunity to give his defence, if any, against this allegation. However, in practice, this rule is generally involved when the prosecution desires to bring the case under Section 75, IPC for enhanced punishment.
It must be stated that a charge has necessarily to be framed in a warrant case, when the Magistrate is of the opinion that a prima facie case has been made out, but no formal charge need be framed in summons cases.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
A charge corresponds to the indictment under the English law. It is not merely an abstract of accusation which the accused has to answer but a concrete allegation of an offence alleged to have been committed by the accused person.
The form in which the charge is to be framed is given in Form 32 of the Second Schedule of the Code.
A charge is not required to be framed in following category of cases—
(i) For inquiries under Section 116 of the Cr. P.C.
(ii) For trial of Summons cases under Section 251; and
(iii) For summary cases where no appeal lies. (Section 260 Cr. P.C.)