Section 301 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that the Public Prosecutor or Assistant Public Prosecutor in charge of a case may appear and plead without any written authority before any Court in which that case is under inquiry, trial or appeal. If, in any such case, any private person instructs a Pleader to prosecute any person under the Code, the Public Prosecutor (or Assistant Public Prosecutor, as the case may be) must conduct the prosecution, and the other Pleader must act under the directions of the Public Prosecutor (or Assistant Public Prosecutor). With the permission of the Court, such other Pleader may also submit written arguments after the evidence is closed in the matter.
S. 302 then empowers a Magistrate to permit the prosecution to be conducted by any person other than a Police Officer below the rank of an Inspector. However, the Advocate-General, the Government Advocate, the Public Prosecutor or the Assistant Public Prosecutor do not require such permission. Moreover, a Police Officer cannot be permitted to conduct the prosecution if he has taken part in the investigation of the offence with respect to which the accused is being prosecuted.
Image Source: static.libsyn.com