Important Stages of Criminal Cases

The criminal law in India is basically governed by three Acts which are- 

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Indian Evidence Act, 1872

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

IPC is the substantive law while the CrPC and Evidence Act are procedural laws. Before explaining the stages of a criminal case lets understand a few definitions revolving around Criminal law-

Pre-trial Stage- 

First of all the authorities have to differentiate as to whether the offence committed is cognizable or a non- cognizable offence.

Cognizable Offence- in these offences, a police officer does not require a warrant to arrest a person. Hence, these offences are of a serious nature. In these offences, police can directly start the investigation after filing the FIR, no assent from the Magistrate is required.

Non- Cognizable Offences- explained under Section 2(I) of the Cr.P.C. These offences require a warrant for any arrest to be made by a police officer. These offences are punishable with an imprisonment  of about 3 years or with fine. In case of these offences, authorisation is required before beginning the examination. 

Production before the Magistrate- 

The accused shall be produced before the Magistrate within 24 hours of arrest minus the time required for the transportation.

Remand/ bail-provided under Chapter XXXIII  of the CrPC. 

Various safeguards and rights have been provided to the arrested person. 

After the completion of the investigation the police submits a final report, which is called a charge sheet to the Magistrate for the commencement of the trial.

Criminal Trial-Stages: 

Various criminal trials have been provided by the law in India. These could be broadly divided into warrant, summary and summons trials. There are also Sessions Trials, which are heard before the Session’s Court and have their own set of procedures. 

A Warrant Case, as per provided under Section 2(x) of CrPC, is the trial of an offence punishable with imprisonment for two or more years of life imprisonment or death.

A Summons case, provided under Section 2(w) is a case which is not a warrant case. This is a trial for offences which are punishable with imprisonment for a period of less than 2 years.

Summary trials also known as abridged trials which are held for offences of a trivial nature ie. Offences punishable with imprisonment for a term of less than 6 months.

The Stages for a criminal trial can be summarised as follows- 

Framing of Charges-

After the police report has been submitted, the magistrate has to decide, whether there is a prima facie evidence pointing towards the commission of an offence by the accused. 

The magistrate is not deciding at this stage whether the accused is guilty or not, but if there is enough material on record which points in the direction that a crime was committed.

Under Section 250 of the code, framing of charges is to be done in the presence of the accused as the accused has the right to know the charges against him for a proper defence.

Plea of Guilty-

After the charges have been read the magistrate offers an opportunity to the accused to plead guilty on the charges levied. If the accused accepts the charges framed against him, then in this case the magistrate convicted the accused and imposes punishment as is provided under the law. However, the magistrate has to ensure that the plea of guilty was voluntary and that the accused is fully aware of the charges read against him. In case, the accused pleads non guilty, then trial before an appropriate court would start. 

Evidence by prosecution- 

The court directs the prosecution to present evidence to prove its case of the guilt of the accused. The prosecution at this stage  has to establish the guilt of the accused by producing evidence in the form of witnesses or documents.

Statement of the Accused- 

Under Section 313, the accused is called upon and in warrant cases he is examined by an oath. Accused is provided with the opportunity to explain the circumstances of the evidence against him or any other relevant factor for his defence. 

Defence evidence- 

The criminal defence lawyer at this stage produces his evidence and witnesses to disprove the allegations made by the prosecution. Qas the general rule of the criminal jurisprudence states that a person is innocent until he is proven guilty, thus after the prosecution has presented its case, the onus to prove the innocence of the accused falls on the defence and the criminal defence attorney. 

Final arguments and judgments- 

Both the prosecution and defence present before the court their arguments and try to disprove the evidence provided by the opposite party.

Based on the evidence and arguments provided by the parties, the court determines whether the accused is guilty or innocent. This is a judicial process where the judgement is based on the facts of the case and the mind of the judge presiding over. If found guilty the accused is sentenced the punishment as is provided under the law.

The above mentioned are general steps involved in a criminal case, however, for further information you should contact an experienced criminal lawyer who could provide you with legal procedure available as well as what other options are available to you as is required in your case. Lead India provides you with a team of advocates who have a year long experience in dealing with cases related to criminal law  and can provide you with apt guidance and advice.