<p>The Supreme Court on Monday declared that the trial court can invoke its extraordinary power under Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Code to summon additional accused even before the pronouncement of the order of sentence in case of conviction of other accused. </p>.<p>A five-judge Constitution bench presided over by Justice S Abdul Nazeer passed the detailed guidelines for the court to follow in summoning of the additional accused either suo motu or an application by the prosecution on the basis of fresh evidence or materials disclosed during the trial.</p>.<p>The bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai, A S Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian and B V Nagarathna, said the trial in a criminal case is completed only after the sentence is pronounced in case of conviction, as "a judgment is considered to be complete in all respects only when the sentence is imposed on the convict."</p>.<p>"If the court finds from the evidence recorded in the process of trial that any other person is involved, such power to summon the accused under Section 319 of CrPC can be exercised by passing an order to that effect before the sentence is imposed and the judgment is complete in all respects bringing the trial to a conclusion," the bench said.</p>.<p>Justice Bopanna, who wrote the judgement on behalf of the bench, further clarified what is important is that the decision to summon an additional accused either suo-moto by the court or on an application should in all eventuality be considered and disposed of before the judgment of conviction and sentence is pronounced, as otherwise, the trial would get concluded and the court will get divested of the power under Section 319 of CrPC.</p>.<p>The court also declared the power to summon the accused can certainly be invoked in a split-up case, where some accused remained absconding and apprehended subsequently, before conclusion of the trial therein.</p>.<p>"But the evidence recorded in the main concluded trial cannot be the basis of the summoning order if such power has not been exercised in the main trial till its conclusion," the bench said.</p>.<p>The court's judgement came on a reference made a two-judge bench on May 10, 2019, saying that the question with regard to the actual stage at which the trial is said to have concluded is required to be authoritatively considered since the power under Section 319 of CrPC is extraordinary in nature.</p>.<p>The matter before the court arose out of decision to summon an additional accused in a drug trafficking case on the date sentence was pronounced by the trial court.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court on Monday declared that the trial court can invoke its extraordinary power under Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Code to summon additional accused even before the pronouncement of the order of sentence in case of conviction of other accused. </p>.<p>A five-judge Constitution bench presided over by Justice S Abdul Nazeer passed the detailed guidelines for the court to follow in summoning of the additional accused either suo motu or an application by the prosecution on the basis of fresh evidence or materials disclosed during the trial.</p>.<p>The bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai, A S Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian and B V Nagarathna, said the trial in a criminal case is completed only after the sentence is pronounced in case of conviction, as "a judgment is considered to be complete in all respects only when the sentence is imposed on the convict."</p>.<p>"If the court finds from the evidence recorded in the process of trial that any other person is involved, such power to summon the accused under Section 319 of CrPC can be exercised by passing an order to that effect before the sentence is imposed and the judgment is complete in all respects bringing the trial to a conclusion," the bench said.</p>.<p>Justice Bopanna, who wrote the judgement on behalf of the bench, further clarified what is important is that the decision to summon an additional accused either suo-moto by the court or on an application should in all eventuality be considered and disposed of before the judgment of conviction and sentence is pronounced, as otherwise, the trial would get concluded and the court will get divested of the power under Section 319 of CrPC.</p>.<p>The court also declared the power to summon the accused can certainly be invoked in a split-up case, where some accused remained absconding and apprehended subsequently, before conclusion of the trial therein.</p>.<p>"But the evidence recorded in the main concluded trial cannot be the basis of the summoning order if such power has not been exercised in the main trial till its conclusion," the bench said.</p>.<p>The court's judgement came on a reference made a two-judge bench on May 10, 2019, saying that the question with regard to the actual stage at which the trial is said to have concluded is required to be authoritatively considered since the power under Section 319 of CrPC is extraordinary in nature.</p>.<p>The matter before the court arose out of decision to summon an additional accused in a drug trafficking case on the date sentence was pronounced by the trial court.</p>
