Charge and its essentials rules Under the CRPC, 1898

Charge simply means 'accusation'.
A charge is a formal recognition of concrete accusations by a magistrate or a court based upon a complaint or information against the accused.
A charge is drawn up by a court only when the court is satisfied by the prima facie evidence against the accused.
The basic idea behind a charge is to make the accused understand what exactly he is accused of so that he can defend himself.

1. WELCOME TO MY PRESENTATION PRESENTED BY, ABDULLAH MOHAMMAD KAWSAR ID: 213-26-418 BATCH: 43 DEPARTMENT OF LAW DAFFODIL INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

2. HOSTED BY, Professor Dr. Kudrat-E-Khuda Babu Professor & Head DEPARTMENT OF LAW Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences DAFFODIL INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

3. CHARGES THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, 1898 Section 221 to 239

4. V.C SHUKLA VS STATE, 1980 JUSTICE DESAI OPINED THAT, THE PURPOSE OF FRAMING A CHARGE IS TO GIVE INTIMATION TO THE ACCUSED OF CLEAR, UNAMBIGUOUS AND PRECISE NOTICE OF THE NATURE OF ACCUSATION THAT THE ACCUSED IS CALLED UPON TO MEET IN THE COURSE OF A TRIAL

5. Definition of Charge: Section 2(b) Charge simply means 'accusation'. A charge is a formal recognition of concrete accusations by a magistrate or a court based upon a complaint or information against the accused. A charge is drawn up by a court only when the court is satisfied by the prima facie evidence against the accused. The basic idea behind a charge is to make the accused understand what exactly he is accused of so that he can defend himself.

6. Cases where charge is need to be framed 01 02 03 SESSIONS CASES WARRANT CASES TRIABLE BY MAGISTRATE INSTITUTED ON POLICE REPORT WARRANT CASES TRIABLE BY MAGISTRATE INSTITUTED OTHERWISE THAN POLICE REPORT

7. CONTENT OF CHARGE (221) • Every charge under this Code shall state the offence with which the accused is charged. • If the law that creates the offence gives it any specific name , the offence should be described in the charge by that name only. Eg. ‘murder’ ‘extortion’. • If the law that creates the offence does not give it any specific name so much of the definition of the offence must be stated as to give the accused notice of the matter with which he is charged.

8. CONTENT OF CHARGE (221) • The law and section of the law against which the offence is said to have been committed shall be mentioned in the charge. • If the accused has a previous conviction that could affect their punishment for a subsequent offense, the charge must include the details of the previous conviction. The court can add this information at any time before sentencing if it was omitted.

9. Case laws Abu Bakkar Siddiqui and others Vs State: The High Court observed that Tota Mia was found guilty under sections 302/34 of the Penal Code but it was noted that he had not been charged under these sections earlier, which did not give him chance to defend himself. As a result, the Court ruled that the conviction and sentence against Tota Mia were not sustainable in law and set them aside.

10. Trial incase where the offence is not stated by law If any offence which is not specifically stated by law, the trial must be held. It does not matter whether there are law or not for that offence.

11. Time and Place of the Offence(222) The charge must specify the essential facts such as time, place, and person comprising the offence. For example: if a person is charged with Murder, the charge must specify the name of the victim and date and place of the murder. Case: In Shashidhara Kurup vs Union of India 1994 case, no particulars of offence were stated in the charge. It was held that the particulars of offence are required to be stated in the charge so that the accused may take appropriate defence.

12. Manner of committing offence(223) Sometimes, even the time and place do not provide sufficient notice of the offence which a person is charged. In such situation, the manner in which the offence committed must also be specified in the charge.

13. Alteration of Charge(227) 1. Any Court may alter or add to any charge at any time before judgment is pronounced 2. Every such alteration or addition shall be read and explained to the accused. 3.The Court under section 227 of Criminal Procedure Code is competent to alter or amend the charge at any stage of the proceeding before pronouncement of judgment. [57 DLR 546]

14. Effect of error 34 DLR 94: Charge which causes prejudice to the accused due to error or irregularity makes out a case for retrial. In Rawalpenta Venkalu vs State of Hyderabad, 1956: the charge failed to mention the Section 34 of IPC but the description of the offence was mentioned clearly. The SC held that the section number was only of academic significance and the omission was immaterial.