Legal Provisions of Section 232 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.), India.
Acquittal:
The object of this section is to expedite the conclusion of the Sessions trial and, at the same time, to avoid any unnecessary harassment to the accused by calling upon him to adduce evidence or to avoid the waste of public time when there is no evidence at all.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Under this section the Judge has to decide whether there is evidence to show the commission of offence, but at that stage he should not consider what value should be attached to such evidence. If he finds that there is no evidence, then he has power to acquit the accused. It is necessary for the Judge to look into the prosecution evidence adduced before him and the material brought out in the examination of the accused and then decide whether there is any evidence or not.
It is not the quality or quantity of evidence that has to be considered at this stage. If there is any evidence to show that the accused has committed the offence, then the Judge has to pass on the next stage. It is not open to him to evaluate or consider the reliability of the evidence at this stage.
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The High Court of Allahabad in Rajdhar v. State of U.P., held that after the prosecution evidence is completed with examination of accused and hearing of prosecution, an order of acquittal can be regarded by the Sessions Judge.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
In this connection it was held by the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the law confers an important statutory right upon the accused person to take his chance of acquittal upto the stage of Section 232 of the Code. Till then, he is under no duty to disclose the names of his defence witnesses.
The Court passing the order of an acquittal has to record reasons as to why it has reached the conclusion that there is no evidence at all because its order of acquittal would likely be subjected to appeal against such acquittal.