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Yashodhan Singh & Ors. vs The State of Uttar Pradesh & Anr. (2023 INSC 652)

Criminal Appeal · 2023 INSC 652Decided 18 Jul 2023
Criminal Appeal No. 2186 of 2023
B.V. Nagarathna · Ujjal Bhuyan

Background

In a 2018 FIR alleging that a group of men attacked the complainant's house, firing shots that killed his two brothers, several named appellants were not charge-sheeted as their role was still under investigation. Later, based on evidence given during the trial, the complainant successfully applied under Section 319 CrPC to have them summoned as additional accused. The appellants challenged this before the Allahabad High Court and then the Supreme Court, arguing, relying on the earlier decision in Jogendra Yadav, that a person cannot be added as an accused under Section 319 without first being given a hearing.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court undertook a detailed review of its own precedents, including the Constitution Bench rulings in Hardeep Singh, Sukhpal Singh Khair, and Brijendra Singh, and clarified that the observation in Jogendra Yadav about a summoned person being "heard" was specific to the facts of that case (where a hearing had actually been given) and does not lay down a mandatory rule. The Court held that Section 319 CrPC does not contemplate a pre-summoning hearing or a "mini-trial," since the purpose of the provision is to bring genuinely complicit persons to trial promptly without derailing or delaying proceedings against the accused already on trial; a summoned person's remedies are to challenge the summoning order afterwards, and to cross-examine witnesses and lead defence evidence during the trial itself. The appeal was accordingly dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

If you are summoned as an additional accused during an ongoing criminal trial under Section 319 CrPC, you do not have a right to a hearing before being added: your legal remedies are to challenge the summoning order in a higher court and to fully defend yourself once the trial proceeds.

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

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