Can An Accused Added U/S 319 CrPC Seek Discharge U/s 227 CrPC ? Supreme Court To Re-examine Correctness Of Earlier Judgment

Whether an accused added under Section 319 CrPC can seek discharge under Section 227 CrPC? The Supreme Court agreed to examine this issue raised in a special leave petition.

Appearing for a petitioner in a special leave petition, Senior Advocate S. Nagamuthu had contended that this issue was answered in the negative in Jogendra Yadav Vs. State of Bihar  (2015) 9 SCC 244 and that the said view is not a correct view in law.

"We are, therefore, of the view that it will be appropriate to examine the correctness of the said proposition", the bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and PS Narasimha observed. Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar has been appointed as Amicus Curiae in this matter. 

In Jogendra (supra) it was held that an order for addition of an accused made after considering the evidence cannot be undone by coming to the conclusion that there is no sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused without appreciation of evidence. It does not stand to reason that a person who is summoned as an accused to stand trial and added as such to the proceedings on the basis of a stricter standard of proof can be allowed to be discharged from the proceedings on the basis of a lesser standard of proof such as a prima facie connection with the offence necessary for charging the accused, the court had observed.

The Court had further opined that a view to the contrary would render the exercise undertaken by a Court under Section 319 of the Cr.P.C., for summoning an accused, on the basis of a higher standard of proof totally infructuous and futile if the same court were to subsequently discharge the same accused by exercise of the power under Section 227 of the Cr.P.C., on the basis of a mere prima facie view. "The exercise of the power under Section 319 of the Cr.P.C., must be placed on a higher pedestal. Needless to say the accused summoned under Section 319 of the Cr.P.C., are entitled to invoke remedy under law against an illegal or improper exercise of the power under Section 319, but cannot have the effect of the order undone by seeking a discharge under Section 227 of the Cr.P.C. If allowed to, such an action of discharge would not be in accordance with the purpose of the Cr.P.C in enacting Section 319 which empowers the Court to summon a person for being tried along with the other accused where it appears from the evidence that he has committed an offence", it was observed.

Case : Ram Janam Yadav vs State Of U.P. | Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No.3199/2021

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