Calcutta High Court directs including additional accused in trial after 17 years
Kolkata: Upholding the court’s power under Section 319 CrPC to summon someone to face trial as an additional accused, even if they weren’t named originally as an accused, the Calcutta High Court directed the trial court to proceed against a person who along with others attacked a family, causing death of one in 2007.
The bench of Justice Shampa Dutt (Paul) set aside a trial court order rejecting the petition filed by the prosecution under Section 319 of CrPC to include one of the accused in the trial.
The court was hearing a matter wherein a total of 19 accused persons, including one Sheik Nasir Ali, had attacked the complainant’s (Abdul Halim) family in 2007 with weapons, inflicting grievous injuries. The complainant’s father, and two others, were taken to the hospital where the father succumbed to his injuries.
Police complaint was lodged. However, all the accused, except Nasir and one Amjad were produced in court. Amjad later died. Most prosecution witnesses maintained that Nasir was not included. Hence, the petition was filed under Section 319 CrPC for including Nasir as an additional accused.
The trial court had rejected the petition observing that the de facto complainant and the prosecution knew in 2015 that instead of Nasir, one Sheikh Suraj was shown as accused in the chargesheet. Hence, it was inferred that despite having this knowledge since 2015, they kept silent for so many years and when notice was served on the complainant he did not even file a Narazi Petition.
The High Court observed that although Nasir was mentioned in the case diary submitted by the state, his name was not in the formal FIR and neither was he chargesheeted.
Relying on several Supreme Court judgements and on the evidence placed, the HC observed that Nasir Ali was part of the group of accused persons who have been charged with crime of committing the offences and named by all the eyewitnesses. The court said he must be tried along with others facing trial.
