Calcutta High Court Sets Aside Conviction Over Non-Recording Of Statement U/S 313 CrPC, Remands Case Back To Trial Court

Setting aside the order of conviction and sentence against all accused in a culpable homicide case on the ground that one of the accused’s statement under Section 313 of the CrPC had not been recorded, the Calcutta High Court last week remitted the matter back to the trial court.

A division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi adopted the procedure followed by the Supreme Court in Nar Singh vs. State of Haryana where the apex court had remitted the matter for recording the statement of the accused under Section 313.

“In the facts and circumstances of the present case, there is a possibility of the appellants being prejudiced in the event the appeal court examines the accused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. There is a possibility of the accused losing one forum of appeal," the division bench observed.

In this case, while preparing the record to make the appeal ready for hearing, the Registry had noted that the answers to the questions put to one of the accused persons under Section 313 of the CrPC had not been recorded. However, the statement under Section 313 CrPC contained the signature of the concerned accused person as well as the Judicial Officer.

Thereafter, the Registry had requested the trial court to rectify the defects. However, the trial court had communicated that the same was not possible. Consequently, the record was placed before the High Court for scrutiny via report dated November 7, 2022.

Pursuant to the perusal of the record, the bench noted,

“The records demonstrate that the examination of one of the appellants in CRA (DB) 2 of 2022 under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure contains no answers in respect of such appellant although, the examination under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure contains the signature of such appellant and the Judicial Officer examining the appellant.”

While adopting the procedure laid down in Nar Singh, the court remitted the appeal to the trial court for the purpose of examining accused Nanda Samanta @ Nanda Lal Samanta under Section 313 afresh.

"Consequently, the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence as against the all appellants are set aside. On remand, the trial court will proceed from examining Nanda Samanta under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, other accused being already examined," it said.

The court also noted that the accused were on bail till the passing of order of conviction.

"Since we are setting aside the impugned judgment of conviction and/or the order of sentence, it would be appropriate to grant bail to the appellants of CRA (DB) 2 of 2022 also," it added. 

Case Title: Nanda Samanta @ Nanda Lal Samanta & Anr v. State of West Bengal

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Cal) 21

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