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Dinesh Tiwari v. State of Uttar Pradesh

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 1365 of 2014)Decided 7 Jul 2014
Criminal Appeal No. 1365 of 2014
Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya · Justice V. Gopala Gowda

Background

Police charged a man with assault, insult and intimidation but did not charge him with murder in a case arising from a fatal attack. After committal, the Sessions Court added a murder charge from the case record. He objected that the police had omitted that offence and that he needed a separate hearing before the charge was framed.

Decision Breakdown

The Court dismissed the appeal and allowed the murder charge to proceed. After considering the record and hearing the parties at the discharge stage, a Sessions Judge could frame an offence supported by the material even if the charge-sheet did not name it. A further separate hearing under Section 228 was not required where the preceding Section 227 hearing had occurred. The judge was not required to give detailed reasons for framing the charge. This preliminary decision required sufficient grounds to proceed, rather than proof of guilt at trial.

Lesson Learnt

The police's choice of charges does not finally bind the trial judge. A charge means the evidence warrants a trial; it remains different from a conviction after proof and a full hearing.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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