LAW OF CRIMES I

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT I

CRPC II

JUDGMENT: DETAILED NOTE

(Citation method: Harvard‟s Bluebook Citation method, 20th edition)

Name: Shubhit Gaur

Class: BA LLB (Division D)

PRN: 18010125346

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 3

1.1 DEFINITION .................................................................................................................. 3

2. ESSENTIALS OF A JUDGMENT..................................................................................... 4

2.1 LANGUAGE OF THE COURT ................................................................................... 4

2.2 POINTS OF DETERMINATION ................................................................................ 4

2.3 SECTION OF THE PENAL CODE ............................................................................. 4

3. POST CONVICTION ORDERS ........................................................................................ 5

3.1 DEATH............................................................................................................................ 6

3.2 IMPRISONMENT ......................................................................................................... 7

3.3 RATIONALE.................................................................................................................. 7

4. PROBATION AND ADMONITION ................................................................................. 7

4.1 SECTION 360 ................................................................................................................. 8

4.2 POA ................................................................................................................................. 8

5. FINE AND COMPENSATION .......................................................................................... 8

6. PRONOUNCEMENT OF JUDGMENT ........................................................................... 9

6.1 PRONOUNCEMENT .................................................................................................... 9

6.2 PRECAUTIONARY ORDERS AND ABRIDGED JUDGMENTS ........................ 10

REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 10

ONLINE DATABASES ..................................................................................................... 11

BOOKS................................................................................................................................ 11

RESEARCH PAPERS AND REPORTS ......................................................................... 11

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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 DEFINITION
A judgment can be regarded as the Final decision of the court as to the guilt or innocence of
the accused leading to which the accused is sentenced to punishment or fine or acquitted
respectively. This decision is a reasoned one after looking at the facts and circumstances and
evidences present.

SECTION 353:
JUDGMENT(PRON
SECTION 368: OUNCEMENT)
SECTION
POWER OF
354:
HIGHCOURT TO
LANGUAGE
ANNUL OR
AND
CONFIRM
CONTENTS
CONVICTION.

SECTION 366-
SECTION
367:
355:
CONFIRMATION
METROPOLIT
OF DEATH
AN
SENTENCE AND
MAGISTRATE
ADDITIONAL
'S JUDGMENT
INVESTIGATION

LEGAL
PROVISIONS

SECTION SECTION 356:

363: COPY PRECAUTIONARY
OF AND PREVENTIVE
JUDGMENT. ORDERS

SECTION
SECTION
362 : COURT
357 TO 359 :
NOT TO
COMPENSATI
ALTER SECTION ON AND FINE
JUDGMENT 360-361:
PROBATION
AND
SPECIAL
REASONS

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2. ESSENTIALS OF A JUDGMENT
The essentials forming part of the judgment are found in Section 354 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 (Hereinafter „the code‟) which talks about the language and content of a
judgment. These can be enlisted as below:

2.1 LANGUAGE OF THE COURT

Section 354(1) (a) read along with Section 272 prescribes the language of the judgement to
be the „Language of the courts‟ which is decided by the State government. 1

2.2 POINTS OF DETERMINATION

The contents of the judgment must comprise of the „points of determination‟ and the decision
on each of the points.2 That is, it must be clearly mentioned of what the accused is alleged of
and when giving the judgement, the decision on each alleged offence must be given clearly. 3

Moreover, while deciding the points of determination, the appraisal of all facts and evidences
is required along with the „reasoning‟ for such decision based on the facts and evidences. The
reasoning is of utmost importance as it is the link between the allegation and conclusion. 4 In
this regard, it has been stated in the case of Ismail Amir Shaikh v State of Maharashtra 5,
that a judgment is to be considered a valid one only when it clearly demarcates the reasons
for accepting one view point and disregarding other. Since, the matters under the code pertain
to Criminal law under the utmost guilt is to be proven beyond doubt, a part of the judgment
containing the reason „not‟ to take other viewpoint or discrediting the other possibility is
considered important6 as it fulfils the criteria of proving beyond doubt.7

2.3 SECTION OF THE PENAL CODE

In addition to this, the judgment shall also specify the offence of which the accused is
prosecuted in terms of the Section of the Penal code. This extends to ascertaining under
which section the accused is charged and also under what section he shall be sentenced, in
case of conviction and Acquitted, if that may be the case.8

1
Section 354(1) (a), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
2
Section 354(1) (b), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
3
Jawahar Lal Singh v Naresh Singh (1987) 2 SCC 222.
4
Ramhit v Emperor 35 Cri Lj 919 (Aii).
5
Ismail Amir Shaikh v State of Maharashtra 1985 Cri Lj 273 (Bom).
6
State of UP v Jagdish Singh 1990 Supp SCC 150
7
Raghunath Makadwala Laxman v State of Mahrashtra (1986) 2 SCC 90
8
Section 354(1)(c), Code of Criminal procedure, 1973

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If it is doubtful that under which two probable sections of the penal code or two parts of the
same section, shall the offence of the accused lie, it is prescribed that the court record such
situation distinctly and then pass the judgment in either of the sections or part of the Section.9
The requirement of such provision is to make sure that the law as per the Penal law is applied
given the impact of Punishments in Criminal law on the accused and the society, asking
utmost sincerity in application of law along with the fact that such mention will also clearly
demarcate the sentence or punishment to be given ruling out the possibility of merely
determining the guilt and not prescribing adequate mirroring punishment to it. It is noted in
Yakub Abdul Razzak Memon v State of Maharashtra10 that judgment of conviction must
accompany the „Determined Sentence‟ to complete itself.

If in a case, the accused is acquitted of the charges, then the same should be mentioned in the
text along with the statement that he shall be set at liberty without any guilt. 11 The reason for
this expressive requirement is to uphold the integrity of the accused in the society after being
charged with the infamousity of a crime. This general rule however has exceptions to it
based on the exceptions given in the penal code. If it is proven that the act was actually
committed by the accused, however he holds the defence of insanity, statement of no guilt
shall not be recorded in the judgment along with the mention of the state of accused during
the commission of the offence.

3. POST CONVICTION ORDERS

Section 354(3), (4) and (5) read along with the relevant sections of the Probation of
Offenders Act, 1958 (Hereinafter “ the POA”) puts light with regard to the orders given in a
judgement post-conviction, that is after the guilt has been determined.

The penal code prescribes alternative punishments of a crime with varying degrees of
maximum and minimum in it, which are to be applied as per the facts and circumstances of a
particular case. Section 354(3) of the code states that in case the offence is punishable by
death or life imprisonment or imprisonment for a term of years, than it is required that
reasons for awarding a sentence out of these is specifically mentioned and if the sentence is

9
Section 354(2), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
10
Yakub Abdul Razzak v State of Maharashtra (2014) 7 SCC (Cri) I.
11
Section 354(1)(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

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that of Death, then the „Special reasons‟ for the same are also required to be mentioned along
with the statement that such punishment will be carried out by „hanging till death‟12

3.1 DEATH
The scheme of the abovementioned section clearly indicates the philosophy behind it which
is to give every chance to the individual to be able to come back to society by rehabilitation
and reformation and the death sentence to be used only in the rarest of the rare cases.13 In the
case of Santa Singh v State of Punjab14, it was observed that the possibility of deterrence of
the crime, rehabilitation must be considered while giving out the sentence.

The measure of Punishment is also determined by the atrocious nature of the crime and
helplessness of the Victim.15 The profiles of the offender and victim is also closely examined
along with the nature of crime before giving death sentence such as whether the criminal as a
hardened criminal or whether the victim was a woman or a child.16

Besides this, various other procedural checks are made such as Section 366(1) which states
the order of the Trial court is not final until confirmed by the High court of the state which
has the duty to appraise all facts and evidences of the case.17If not satisfied, the High court
may order the session court or take upon itself to conduct further investigation and collect
additional evidence18 and hear the reference with a bench of two or more judges.19

As per Section 368, if the case is submitted to the session‟s court, the high court may
confirm the order passed, annul it and convict the accused person under a different charge of
which the session‟s court might have convicted him or acquit him completely.20

However Section 368 states that a confirmation order cannot be made unless the period of
appeal is not over and if an appeal is made then until the appeal gets disposed of, in order to
give opportunity to the accused.

12
Section 354(5), Code of Criminal Procedure , 1973.
13
Ambaram v State of MP (1976) 4 SCC 298
14
Santa Singh v State of Punjab (1976) 4 SCC 190.
15
Dhananjoy Chatterjee v State of West Bengal (1994) 2 SCC 220
16
Balwant Singh v State of Punjab (1976) 1 SCC 425.
17
Kartarey Singh v State of UP (1976) I SCC 472.
18
Section 367(I), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
19
Section 369&370, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

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3.2 IMPRISONMENT
In cases of Imprisonment, if the accused is convicted of various offences, then whether the
terms will run „Consecutively‟ or „Concurrently‟ is left to the discretion of the court under
Section 31 of the code.21

However, it is established that if the offences occur from a „Single Transaction‟, then the
Punishment will run concurrently and if they are different then consecutively, given that the
term does not exceed 14 years or twice the punishment for each offence, whichever is less.

3.3 RATIONALE
Similarly, along with the motive of providing a chance for rehabilitation, the security of the
Society is of paramount importance and often, shorter sentences of imprisonment instead of
long term ones have an opposite effect on the accused as the desirable impact may not be
achieved in the short duration.22.

Therefore, Section 354(4) clearly indicates the intent of the legislature of not providing small
terms of imprisonment and thereby possibly making the criminal a habitual one prescribes
that: in cases of offences for which the prescribed punishment is of 1 year or more and the
court gives a sentence of less than 3 months, then the reasons of the same shall be mentioned
in the text of the judgment.

The same has been upheld by the Law Commission in its 47th report23 having stated that
short term imprisonment brands the person as a previous convict who discredits his
reputation in society without having a chance of reformation through the experience of a
disciplined Jail life. The Supreme Court in Ediga Annama v State of AP has observed:

“Where the guilt is established, Punitive Dilemma Begins”24

4. PROBATION AND ADMONITION

21
OM Cherian v State of kerala (2015) 2 SCC 501
22
Lekh Singh v State, AIR 1960 Punj, 482
23
Law Commission‟s 47th report on “The Trial and Punishment of Social and Economic Offences, pg 85, para
10:3”
24
Ediga Annama v State of AP (1974) 4 SCC 443.

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4.1 SECTION 360

Having regard to the age, character, antecedents, physical and mental condition of the
accused, Section 360 of the code gives the authority to the court to release the accused on
Probation and Admonition instead of sentencing him for imprisonment. Admonition refers to
a firm warming or reprimand by the court and can be invoked if the offence is of Theft,
dishonest Misappropriation or is punishable under IPC with imprisonment up to 2 years or
fine only and there is no previous conviction of the accused. The court may release a
person on probation on the basis of „Good Conduct‟ by signing sureties with or without
bonds if three conditions are fulfilled. First, the person should not have a prior proved
conviction his record. Secondly, the accused is a woman or a man under the age of 21 years
and the alleged offence does'nt not call for life imprisonment or death. Thirdly, if the person
is more than 21 years of age, the alleged offence is punishable with a term of seven years or
less or with Fine only.

4.2 POA
Probation can also be granted under Section 3 and 4 of POA which are much wider in scale
and scope than the code.25 The applicability of POA is not hindered by Section 36026; in fact,
Section 18 of POA read along with Section 8 of the General Clauses Act states that in states
where POA is applicable, Section 360 will not. Section 6 of POA also restricts the court‟s
authority to send young offenders below the age of 21 to be sent to jail by prescribing
probation and admonition for them and if the court is still satisfied that such punishment shall
not be adequate and imprisonment is necessary, the reasons for such satisfaction have to be
given in writing. Section 361 requires the court to punish offenders under section 360 or
POA to avoid deterrent and retributive punishment

5. FINE AND COMPENSATION

Section 357 of the code gives authority to the court to ask the accused to pay compensation
to the victim along with the costs of prosecution, thereby combing the functions of a civil and
criminal court.27 When a fine is imposed, it can be used for various purposes such as
defraying it for covering prosecution cost, pay damages for injuries occurred due to the
alleged crime, pay compensation to the relatives of the deceased in case of death of the victim

25
State of Kerala v Chellappan George 1983 KLT 811
26
Section 360(10), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
27
RV Kelkar‟s Lectures on Criminal Procedure, 6th Edn, p.286.

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etc. Moreover, as per Section 326 D and Section 376, the fine collected will directly be paid
to the victims of Acid attacks and sexual assault.

If the offence committed does not call out for Fine as punishment, the court can also order the
offender to pay „Compensation‟ to the victim and this hall be exclusive of the compensation
paid by the state.28 In fixing the amount, the court may look at factors such as the gravity of
the crime, injury suffered and justness of claim.29 As per Section 359, Cost of Prosecution
can also be directed to pay by the accused in case of a non-cognizable offence along with the
sentence to the victim and the failure to do so will attract up to 30 days of imprisonment.30

A person‟s responsibility is also fixed in case of him causing wrongful arrests by payment of
31
compensation of an amount not more than a thousand rupees. However, more than mere
transfer of information, proper case as to the causation of arrest needs to mete out to attract
Section 358 of the code.32

6. PRONOUNCEMENT OF JUDGMENT

6.1 PRONOUNCEMENT
A judgment is to be pronounced by a „formal delivery‟ in an open court by the Presiding
officer so that it is present in the public domain with certainty. 33 Section 353 prescribes three
modes of delivering the judgment. First, by delivering the whole judgment by causing it to be
taken in shorthand and signing every page of the transcript thereof along with the mention of
date in open court. Second, by reading out the whole judgment in open court and signing it
and thirdly, by reading out the operative part of the Judgment and making the copy of it
available to both parties fee of cost. The judgment should be signed by the presiding officer
in the open court.

28
Section 357(3), Code of Criminal procedure, 1973
29
Vinay v State of Karnataka (2015) 11 SCC 612.
30
Section 359, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
31
Section 358(1), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
32
Pramodkumar Padhi v Golekha 1986 Cri Lj 1634 (Ori).
33
Surendra Singh v State of UP AIR 1954 SC 194.

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Moreover, the trial court is required to secure the attendance of the accused during the
pronouncement so that he is able to understand it as per the provisions of Section 353(5) and
(6), however, in case of more than one offenders, the presence of any of them will suffice.

It is of utmost importance that the judgment is delivered not much after the completion of
hearing and there‟s not much gap in between them to uphold the right to a speedy trial
enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.34 Section 362 of the code restricts the
court‟s power to alter the judgment after it has been signed as Final except to change an
arithmetic or clerical error.

6.2 PRECAUTIONARY ORDERS AND ABRIDGED JUDGMENTS

As per the provisions of Section 356 of the code, habitual offenders such as thieves, robbers,
burglars etc. can be made to notify the court of their whereabouts for a period extending up to
5 years of release. Similarly, in cases of offences causing breach of peace such as assault, the
court has the power to order the deposit of security by the offender for a period of not more
than 3 years as per Section 106 of the act. This can be done by a session‟s court or by a First
class magistrate.

A judgment in abridged form can also be passed by a metropolitan magistrate under Article
355 by mentioning the following:

 Serial number of the case.

 Date of Commission of Offence
 Name of Complainant
 Details of the accused
 Alleged Offence
 In case of Appealable orders, a brief statement of reasons for the decisions.
 Final order with date

REFERENCES

34
Anil Rai v State of Bihar (2001) 7 SC 318

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ONLINE DATABASES
 MANUPATRA
 SCC ONLINE
 JSTOR

BOOKS
 RV KELKAR‟S LECTURES ON CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
 D. KESHAVLAL‟S THE LAW OF CRIMES
 RATANLAL AND DHIRAJ LAL‟S THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

RESEARCH PAPERS AND REPORTS

 “PUNITIVE DILLEMA AND WAY FORWARD” BY SATISH TRIPATHI AND
ROHAN KAJNIWALA
 LAW COMMISION‟S 47TH REPORT ON “THE TRIAL AND PUNISHMENT OF
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC OFFENCES”

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