TMI Blog2001 (3) TMI 1046X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ves. This case demonstrates the agony and ordeal suffered by witnesses who attended a Sessions court on several days and yet they were not examined in full. The party who succeeded in dodging examination of such witnesses finally enjoyed the benefit when the Sessions Court acquitted them for want of evidence. The only casualty in the aforesaid process is criminal justice. This appeal by special leave is by the State of U.P. against the order of acquittal of the respondents and also against the order of a Division Bench of the High Court of Allahabad refusing to grant leave to appeal against acquittal. How the situation reached can be narrated now after referring to the facts of the case summarily. Nine persons were arraigned before a Sessions Court to face the charges of murder, attempt to murder and rioting etc. Those nine persons are the respondents in this appeal. The trial judge included Sections 302 and 307 read with Section 149 of the IPC among other offences in the charge framed against the respondents. The allegations, inter alia, are that the respondents formed themselves into an unlawful assembly at about 8 P.M. on 22.6.1982 and armed with the deadly weapons includi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ecution has still failed to lead any evidence, whereas the prosecution side had filed the list of 34 witnesses in the court. It is regretted and it appears to be a handiwork of the police administration and it can be safely derived thereof that the police and the prosecution side have colluded with the defence side, and therefore they have not produced any witness in the court. The conduct of the police (at police station Autraulia) has put a question mark on the performance of the police. After the order of acquittal was passed the State moved the High Court seeking leave to appeal. A Division Bench of the High Court of Allahabad refused to grant leave to appeal, for which learned judges wrote only two sentences as under: Heard learned A.G.A. Perused the impugned judgment. We do not find any good ground for interference by this court in appeal. Leave to appeal is refused. If the Sessions Judge had succumbed to the collusive tactics of the parties in serious offences like murder by acquitting the accused on the ground of want of evidence in spite of witnesses being present on a large number of dates the public confidence in the efficacy of the administration of criminal ju ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Court, after taking cognizance of an offence, or commencement of trial, finds it necessary or advisable to postpone the commencement of, or adjourn, any inquiry or trial, it may, from time to time, for reasons to be recorded, postpone or adjourn the same on such terms as it thinks fit, for such time as it considers reasonable, and may by a warrant remand the accused if in custody: Provided that no Magistrate shall remand an accused person to custody under this section for a term exceeding fifteen days at a time. Provided further that when witnesses are in attendance, no adjournment or postponement shall be granted without examining them, except for special reasons to be recorded in writing. Provided also that no adjournment shall be granted for the purpose only of enabling the accused person to show cause against the sentence proposed to be imposed on him. The first sub-section mandates on the trial courts that the proceedings shall be held expeditiously but the words as expeditiously as possible have provided some play at the joints and it is through such play that delay often creeps in the trials. Even so, the next limb of the sub-section sounded for a more vigorou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... has frowned at granting adjournments on that ground. At any rate inconvenience of an advocate is not a special reason for bypassing the mandate of Section 309 of the Code. If any court finds that the day to day examination of witnesses mandated by the legislature cannot be complied with due to the non co-operation of accused or his counsel the court can adopt any of the measures indicated in the sub-section i.e. remanding the accused to custody or imposing cost on the party who wants such adjournments (the cost must be commensurate with the loss suffered by the witnesses, including the expenses to attend the court). Another option is, when the accused is absent and the witness is present to be examined, the court can cancel his bail, if he is on bail (unless an application is made on his behalf seeking permission for his counsel to proceed to examine the witnesses present even in his absence provided the accused gives an undertaking in writing that he would not dispute his identity as the particular accused in the case.) The time frame suggested by a three-Judge Bench of this court in Rajdeo Sharma vs. State of Bihar {1998 (7) SCC 507} is partly in consideration of the legislat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... imperfections of the existing infrastructure for his tardiness in coping up with such directions. In some states a system is evolved for framing a schedule of consecutive working days for examination of witnesses in each sessions trial to be followed. Such schedule is fixed by the Court well in advance after ascertaining the convenience of the counsel on both sides. Summons or process would then be handed over to the Public Prosecutor incharge of the case to cause them to be served on the witnesses. Once the schedule is so fixed and witnesses are summoned the trial invariably proceeds from day today. This is one method of complying with the mandates of the law. It is for the presiding officer of each court to chalk out any other methods, if any found better, for complying with the legal provisions contained in Section 309 of the Code. Of course, the High Court can monitor, supervise and give directions, on the administration side, regarding measures to conform to the legislative insistence contained in the above section. We have no doubt that in this case a miscarriage of justice has occasioned due to the failure of the trial court to comply with the mandatory directions con ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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