Unit III — Trial Process

“A fair trial is the heart of the criminal process — the accused is presumed innocent until the prosecution proves guilt beyond reasonable doubt.” — the presumption of innocence

Kinds of Trial

The BNSS prescribes four kinds of trial, graded by the seriousness of the offence and the court conducting it. Choosing the correct mode is itself examinable.

A Sessions trial runs: opening by the prosecutor → consideration of discharge (S.250) → framing of charge (S.251) → plea → prosecution evidence → statement of the accused (S.351) → defence evidence → arguments → judgment of acquittal or conviction (S.258) → hearing on sentence (S.258(2)). A case is committed to the Court of Session by a Magistrate under S.232 (a Sessions court does not take cognizance directly, save as provided).

flowchart LR
    A["Cognizance & commitment (S.232)"]:::s1 --> B["Charge framed / discharge (Ss.250-251)"]:::s2
    B --> C["Prosecution evidence + S.351 statement"]:::s3
    C --> D["Defence evidence & arguments"]:::s3
    D --> E["Judgment (S.258)"]:::s4
    E --> F["Hearing on SENTENCE (S.258(2))"]:::s4

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Plea bargaining (Ss.289–300) allows an accused (except for offences against women/children, socio-economic offences and those punishable with death/life/7+ years) to apply for a mutually satisfactory disposition, earning a reduced sentence.

Double Jeopardy & Maintenance

Double jeopardy (S.337) — embodying autrefois acquit / autrefois convict (“formerly acquitted / formerly convicted”) and Article 20(2) — bars a second trial for the same offence on the same facts after a valid acquittal or conviction. It does not bar a trial for a distinct offence, but the related rule of issue-estoppel prevents the prosecution from re-proving a fact already decided in the accused’s favour (Pritam Singh; Maqbool Hussain).

Maintenance (S.144) is a quick, secular remedy compelling a person with sufficient means who neglects them to maintain his wife (including, since Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum, a divorced wife who has not remarried), his legitimate or illegitimate minor children, and his father or mother unable to maintain themselves. A wife forfeits the right if she lives in adultery, refuses without sufficient reason to live with the husband, or they live separately by mutual consent.

✏️ Solved Problem 1 (IRAC Method)

Problem: A is acquitted under the Arms Act (possession of a revolver not proved). He is later tried for murder committed with that revolver, and the prosecution again seeks to prove his possession of it. Decide.

I — Issue

Whether the later murder trial is barred by the earlier acquittal, and whether the prosecution may re-prove possession of the revolver decided in A’s favour.

R — Rule

S.337 + issue-estoppel — a trial for a distinct offence (murder) is not barred by an earlier acquittal under a different statute (Arms Act); but the rule of issue-estoppel prevents the prosecution from re-proving a fact (possession) that was finally decided in A’s favour in the earlier trial.

A — Analysis

The problem packs two ideas that must be separated. Double jeopardy does not bite, because murder and the Arms-Act offence are distinct offences with different ingredients — so the murder trial may proceed. But the prosecution’s attempt to re-prove possession of the revolver runs into issue-estoppel: that very fact was litigated and decided in A’s favour at the Arms-Act trial, and the State cannot relitigate a fact it has already lost. The decoy is to treat the whole murder trial as either wholly barred or wholly open; the correct analysis splits the offence (open) from the already-decided fact (closed).

C — Conclusion

The murder trial may proceed (a distinct offence), but the prosecution is estopped from re-proving A’s possession of the revolver, that fact having been finally decided in his favour.

✏️ Solved Problem 2 (IRAC Method)

Problem: A divorced wife (not remarried), an aged parent, and a wife whose husband has taken a second wife each claim maintenance. Decide their entitlement.

I — Issue

Whether a divorced-but-unmarried wife, an aged parent, and a wife whose husband has taken another wife are entitled to maintenance.

R — Rule

Section 144 — a divorced wife who has not remarried, a parent unable to maintain itself, and a wife whose husband has taken another wife or keeps a mistress (a statutory ground to live apart and still claim) are entitled, provided the respondent has sufficient means and has neglected them.

A — Analysis

The decoy in each limb is a supposed disqualification — “she is divorced,” “the claimant is a parent, not a spouse,” “she is living apart.” Each falls away on the statute and Shah Bano: a divorced wife remains a “wife” for S.144 until she remarries; a parent (mother or father) unable to self-support may claim, even against a married daughter; and a wife is entitled to live apart and still claim where the husband has taken a second wife or kept a mistress. The common thread is that maintenance is a welfare measure against destitution, so the court asks only two real questions — sufficient means and neglect — both of which are satisfied here.

C — Conclusion

Each claimant is entitled — the divorced (un-remarried) wife, the aged parent, and the wife against a husband who took a second wife — provided the respondent has sufficient means and has neglected them.

📄 The full bundle (₹199) has the complete Unit III — all four kinds of trial with the Sessions-trial sequence, plea bargaining, double jeopardy with issue-estoppel, the full law of maintenance, and the preventive/public-nuisance provisions — plus the Question Bank’s model answers to 12 solved problems (interpreter, autrefois acquit, maintenance, public nuisance, consecutive sentences, pardon). Get Notes + Question Bank — ₹199