Joint Trial of Cases and Counter Cases : Need to Amend Criminal Procedure Code
By
Manas Kumar Pal
The Judicial Magistrates of our country have to face problems and are often in a quandary to know the procedure to be followed where there are two cases arising out of a single incident and where only one of them is exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions.
Indeed, there is no explicit provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure for trial of counter case also by the Court of Sessions where the other case born out of same incident is exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions.
But with a view to do proper justice to the parties and preclude the danger of conflicting findings, the procedure generally followed by most of the High Courts in the country in this regard is that the counter cases arising out of one incident are as far as practicable recommended to be tried together by the same court. It is also desirable that both the cases should be decided simultaneously.
But unless and until the case is exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions, a Magistr ....