Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Section 319—Summoning of additional accused—Revision—Since, the trial court has passed the impugned order under Section 319 of CrPC against the petitioners after acquitting the accused persons rather than preceding their acquittal, the order passed by the trial Court cannot be said to be in accordance with the settled law laid down by Apex Court in the case of Sukhpal Singh Khaira v. State of Punjab, 2023 (1) SCC 289—Impugned order be set aside—Petition allowed.
[Para 11]
Section 319—Summoning of additional accused—Revision—A person can only be summoned as an accused, when the trial court, after analyzing the evidence available on record strongly feels that there is sufficient and overwhelming evidence available on record and it is expedient for justice to summon him as accused—Only in such situation, the trial Court, using its extraordinary jurisdiction, may summon a person as an accused in the interest of justice—Trial Court, without assigning sufficient ground for substratum of constituting the offence, has wrongly observed that the role of the petitioners is suspicious—No specific or cogent reasons have been assigned by the trial as to how the petitioners are involved in the alleged offence—Reasoning that the police authority is deliberately trying to save the petitioners from the allegations of the offence, is having no merit—Such type of vague and obscure finding is not sufficient to implead any person as an accused and to direct them for facing a separate trial—Impugned order set aside—Petition allowed.
[Paras 17 to 19]