Rights of Accused

The author of this blog is Vishakha Gupta, student of 4th year, BBA LLB, CPJCHS, SOL affiliated to GGSIPU

Introduction

The accused is a person or people, who are charged with the offence especially in criminal law. There are many rights available for the accused in the criminal justice system of India so the rights of the accused available in the Constitution of India are as follows:.

As per Article 14 para 2 of Constitution of India, it is a Right of presumption of innocence which means it is a right of a person who is charged with any criminal offence have a right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty.

 In the case of Dataram Singh vs. State of U.P. & Anr, it was held that the freedom of an individual cannot be diminished for an infinite duration of time.  Especially until proven guilty it has to be presumed innocent.

According to Article 20(2) of the Constitution of India is the Right against double jeopardy gives a right that any person shall not be prosecuted or punished for the offence more than once. In a case, Sangeetaben Mahendrabhai Patel vs State Of Gujarat & Anr the chief judicial magistrate patan for the reason that the offence Has already been tried the doctrine of double jeopardy affected and the high court dismissed the application

As per Article 20 (3) Constitution of India is Right against self-incrimination states that no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself. In the case Dinesh Dalmia v State the Court observed that where the accused had not allegedly come forward with the truth, the scientific tests are resorted to by the investigation agency

According to article 21 of the constitution of India provides the accused shall not be deprived of his life or personal liberty except in accordance with the procedure established by law which is just, fair and reasonable. This article also provides that the accused has the right to a free and speedy trial.

In the case of Hussainara Khatoon v. Home Secretary, State of Bihar it was held that the right to a speedy trial” may be a fundamental right inherent the proper of life and private liberty provided under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. In its decision, the court mandated greater access to bail, more humane living standards and a big reduction in time from arrest to trial.

Natural justice and rights of accused 

“Nemojudex in causasua” means no one should judge in his own cause if this is followed in the case it leads to personal biasness in the decision of the court. “Audi alterm partem” is the principle of natural justice which means both sides should be heard in any case it includes the Right to cross-examine, the Right to legal representation forms the fundamental structure of rights available to the accused in the Indian criminal justice system. The parties of the proceeding must have due notice of when the court or tribunal will proceed. The court or tribunal should act honest and impartial at the time of the proceeding.

There are many rights of the accused stated in the criminal procedural code such as:

Right to get copies of documents the accused to have the right to get copies of all the documents including police report as per section 207 of CrPC it is the right of the accused to be furnished with the following in case where the proceeding is initiated on a police report: Police report, the First Information Report (FIR) recorded under section 154, all statements recorded under section 161 subsection 3, if any confession and statement recorded under section 164, any other document or relevant extract thereof forwarded to the Magistrate with the police report under sub-section (5) of section 173.

As per Section 50 of CrPC, states the Right to know the grounds of arrest and Right to have bail when any person or officer arrests any person without any warrant shall have to communicate full particulars of the offence for which the arrest is made or others grounds of such arrest and where a person arrest any accused of a non-bailable offence, the officer or any arresting person shall inform the arrested person for that he is entitled to be released on bail and that he can arrange sureties on his behalf.

According to section 54 of CrPC, Right to have examined by the medical practitioner if the accused requests that his body has to be examined by the medical practitioner unless the magistrate considers that request is made for the purpose of vexation or delay or for defeating the ends of justice

According to section 243(1) of CrPC, Right to present evidence is that the accused has right to present evidence to defend or protect him in the case and it is the duty of the magistrate to  

As per section 227 of CrPC, Right to be discharged when no sufficient ground when the magistrate is convinced or agreed that there is no sufficient ground to extend the proceeding after considering the case is the right of the accused to be discharged.

As per section 373 of CrPC, Right to present when evidence is taken here it is the obligation to the magistrate to ensure that all evidence taken in the course of furtherance of a proceeding shall be taken in the presence of the accused or when the personal attendance is dispensed with, in the presence of his pleader.

As per Section 304 of CrPC.Right to haveLegal aid at State expense in certain cases this is not the right for all its available only for the accused of certain categories as a privilege when the accused is not represented by the pleader in the trial of the court of session, and the court believes that he does not have sufficient means to engage a pleader and the court shall assign a pleader for him for his defence at state expenses. In a case Khatri v/s Bihar,  the court held that “the state must provide free legal aid to the poverty-stricken accused person”. The same right to free legal aid is provided at the first instance of the production of the accused before the Magistrate in the court.

As per section 316of CrPC, No influence to be used to induce disclosure the accused shall not be subjected to any sort of influence by means of any promise or threat or otherwise, to induce him to disclose or withhold any matter within his knowledge

Other rights under CrPC are Right to cross-examination it is the right of the accused to be cross-examined by the pleader to prove his innocence.

Right to Appeal when the accused is not satisfied by the decision of the Court of Session then an appeal can be made to the Higher Court. In the case Satya Pal Sigh v. Madhya Pradesh, the court held that the father of the accused can present an appeal to the superior court under the proviso of Section 372, as he comes within the definition of “victim”, to a reconsideration of judgement and order of acquittal.

Conclusion 

We have discussed the various rights provided to the accused during the trial in India. The hypothesis of the paper as earlier put is that the rights provided to the accused in a criminal trial owe their existence to Natural Justice. In conclusion, I personally believe that the hypothesis comes out to be true. One can see a hint of protection to the accused in Natural Justice.

The next element of Natural Justice i.e. both sides shall be heard, or audi alteram partem and the right of the accused to cross-examine the witnesses and his right to legal representation are comparable. Another significant right would be the ‘Rule against bias’, a person cannot be a judge in his own cause. This is an elementary Natural Justice principle which is also the right of the accused in the present day’s criminal justice system. And after it, we have discussed the rights of the accused under the criminal procedural code  by this we get to know the procedure to claim for the rights with many cases for the reference .