TMI Blog2000 (3) TMI 1119X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be disposed of without the aid of arguments of the respondents and so we did not issue notice to them. 3. The factual background in which the situation reached the above stage is the following: Appellant and three persons are now being arraigned before the Special Court at Chennai for facing a charge for the offence under- Section 13(1)(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (for short 'the P.C. Act) read with Section 109 of the Indian Penal Code. Prosecution examined a number of witnesses by summoning 41 persons. When the case reached the stage envisaged in Section 243(1) of the CrPC (for short the Code) he submitted a list of defence witnesses. As we mentioned earlier the number of witnesses shown in the list was so much that even a marathon legal proceeding would not be sufficient to exhaust the entire list. 4. The Special Judge made a scrutiny of the list and dissected the names Into four divisions. The first division consisted of names shown as Nos. 1 to 8. The second division consisted of names shown as Nos. 9 to 117 in the list. The third division consisted of name figuring in the list as Nos. 118 to 177. The fourth division consisted of names of 178 to 267 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... es and ask the Court to permit him to examine all of them. 9. Section 5(1) of the P.C. Act requires the Special Judge to follow the procedure prescribed by the Court for trial of warrant cases by magistrates. Chapter XIX of the Code contains the provisions for such trial and Section 243 falls within the said chapter. (The corresponding provisions in the old Criminal Procedure Code were Sub-sections (8) to (10) of Section 251A.) It is not disputed before us that a Court has the power to refuse to summon any person as a witness on any of the three different grounds; (1) If any witness is cited for the purpose of vexation; (2) If any witness is cited for causing delay; (3) If any witness is cited for defeating the ends of justice. In fact Section 243(2) of the Code incorporates such powers of the Court. 10. In the present case it was the ground of delay which the Special Judge countenanced as the ground for pruning down the massive list of witnesses presented by the appellant. No doubt the time which would consume for completely examining all the 267 witnesses on the defence side would be unimaginably long if a Court is compelled by law to exhaust such a whopping list in its ful ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n such time as the Court may allow, a list of persons (if any) whom he proposes to examine as his witnesses and of the documents (if any) on which he proposes to rely, and he shall then be called upon to enter upon his defence and produce his evidence, and if the accused puts in any written statement the magistrate shall file it with the record. 13. The position of an accused who is involved in a trial under the P.C, Act is more cumbered than an accused in other cases due to legislative curbs. One of them is envisaged in Section 22 of the P.C. Act. The Court is not obliged to direct an accused involved under the P.C. Act to enter upon his defence until the Special Court has the occasion to see the list of his witnesses and also the list of his documents to be adduced in evidence on the defence side. An accused in other cases has to be called upon to enter on his defence irrespective of whether he would propose to adduce defence evidence because it is a choice to be exercised by him only after he is called upon to enter on his defence. But the accused under P.C. Act need be called upon to enter on this defence only after the trial Judge has occasion to peruse the names of the wi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... expeditiousness of the trial. It is true that the concept of speedy trial must apply to all trials, but in the trials for offences relating to corruption the pace must be accelerated with greater momentum due to a variety of reasons. Parliament expressed grave concern over the rampant ever growing corruption among public servants which has been a major cause for the demoralisation of the society. When corrupt public servants are booked they try to take advantage of the delay proved procedural trammels of our legal system by keeping the penal consequences at bay for a considerable time. It was this reality which impelled the Parliament to chalk out measures to curb procrastinating procedural clues. Section 22 of the P.C. Act is one of the measures evolved to curtail the delay in corruption cases. So the construction of Section 243(1) of the Code as telescoped by Section 22 of the P.C. Act must be consistent with the aforesaid legislative intent. 17. The purpose of furnishing a list of witnesses and documents to the Court before the accused is called upon to enter on his defence is to afford an occasion to the Court to peruse the list. On such perusal, if the Court feels that exam ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
