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WARRANTS TRIAL

A warrant case is a case relating to an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life or
imprisonment for a term exceeding two years. Cases tried before sessions court are also
warrants cases but they are exclusively triable by the Sessions Court. This includes those
cases which are triable by the Magistrates. Further, Summons cases can also be tried by
magistrates but warrant cases cannot be tried in the Summons court. The sections which talk
about the trial procedures of warrant cases by magistrate are Sections 238-250. They are
divided into 3 groups. The first group is part A, which deals with provisions mainly
applicable in a case instituted by a police report. It starts with Section 238 which states that
there must be fulfilment of Section 207 which provided that the police report and necessary
documents and records must be made available to the accused for better understanding of the
case against them. Section 239 talks about the discharge proceedings which state that if upon
looking at the police reports and documents sent to it, the magistrate considers the grounds as
baseless, the accused will be discharged and the magistrate must record such reasons. The
next step is the framing of charges (Section 240). This applies if the accused has not been
discharged under Section 239. In such a case, upon consideration and examination, that there
is grounds for presuming that the accused had committed the offence, the charge is framed by
the Magistrate. Once this is done, it is read over to the accused in order to make him aware of
the case against him and he is asked whether he pleads guilty of the offence charged. If the
accused pleads guilty, the magistrate will record the same but may or may not convict him
(Section 241). If he is not convicted under Section 241 because he does not plead, refuses to
plead, or his plea isn’t accepted, then the date for examination of witnesses in fixed (Section
242). The next step is the examination of prosecution witnesses. The cross examination may
be deferred and the court shall recall the witnesses for further examination. The Magistrate
may issue summons for the same. After completing examination of prosecution witnesses, the
oral arguments will be done under Section 313 of the accused. The accused shall be called
upon to enter his defence and bring defence evidence and if he puts in written statement it
will be kept on record. He may apply to the magistrate to isse process for appearance of any
witnesses on his behalf. This will be done if it is not for vexatious or false purposes. The
accused should be given all witnesses for cross examine witnesses before entering on the
defence and in case a person a person is not present, he may be recalled. The expenses borne
by witnesses has to be deposited in court. Now we can look into Part B of the proceedings
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which includes cases instituted otherwise than on a police report. This begins with
preliminary hearing of the prosecution case and examination of witnesses. And the Magistrate
may issue summons to any of witnesses to attend or produce documents (Section 244). After
taking evidence, if the Magistrate feels like there is no substantial case which unrebutted
would warrant conviction, the accused may be discharged by Magistrate and reasons will be
recorded (Section 245). The magistrate is not precluded from discharging the witness before
this step in the proceedings if it is felt that the case is completely groundless or frivolous. If
there has not been a discharge under the previous section and the Magistrate is of the opinion
that there is a possibility of commission of offence under this chapter, wherein Magistrate is
the competent authority and is empowered to award adequate punishment, Magistrate will
frame charges and communicate it to the accused (Section 246). The accused will be asked if
he is guilty or not. If he pleads guilty, he may be convicted based on the discretion of the
Magistrate. If accused doesn’t plead or claims to be tried or not convicted, he shall be
declared to state at commencement of next hearing whether he wants to cross examine any
prosecution witnesses. The witnesses he wishes to cross examine will be recalled. The
prosecution can also call for witness examination as they had done it before framing of
charges the first time. The Magistrate has a duty to call these witnesses for the accused and
cannot deny right of accused just because he examined witnesses before framing of charges.
There is no bar on the accused to cross examine again, unlike in Part A. Subsequently, the
accused is called upon to enter his defence and produce witnesses and evidence (Section
247). This is similar to Section 241. This is followed by the final part of the trial proceedings
of warrant cases which is from Section 248- 250. This is common for both types of cases
instituted and is the concluding steps of the trial. According to the evidence gathered, the
magistrate may declare the accused as innocent if he finds him not guilty, and will convict
him if he is found guilty (Section 248). The magistrate will pass sentence on him unless he is
released on probation under Section 360. In case of previous conviction u/s 211(7), it will be
recorded and if there is a question regarding this conviction, the accused is given opportunity
to adduce evidence pertaining to it. Further if the complainant is absent, the accused may be
discharged in certain cases. That is, if the offence may be compounded or if it is not a
cognizable offence, the magistrate may, in his discretion, discharge the accused (Section
249). If the magistrate feels that there was no reasonable cause for making accusations
against the accused, the magistrate may, after discharge or acquittal of accused, ask for
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compensation from the complainant to the accused. In case of appeal against the
compensation order, the case will lie to the Session Court (Section 250).

SUBMITTED BY,
ANASUYA NAIR
BA0170008