Any act or fault which is not allowed by law and its punishable by law is a crime. The punishment for such crime is decided by following process of criminal trial. The whole criminal law consists of three main acts:
- The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC);
- The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.C.P.);
- The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (IEA).
- The Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr. P. C.) is the procedural law for conducting a criminal trial in India.
- The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the primary penal law of India, which applies to all offences.
- The Indian Evidence Act (IEA) is a extensive, treaty on the law of “evidence”.
typeS OF CRIMINAL TRIAL:
- Warrant trial
- Summon trial
- Summary trial.
WARRANT TRIAL
A warrant–case is define to means a case relating to an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term proceeding two years. A trial in warrant case begins either by filing an FIR in Police Station or by filing it before Magistrate.
Warrant trial is based on 2 types of cases:
- On the Police Report.
- Other than the Police Report.
Stages of Criminal Trial ( instituted by the police report ):
- First of all information detail
- Investigation
- Charges
- Plea of guilty
- Prosecution evidence
- Statement of the accused
- Defense evidence
- Decision.
Stages of Criminal Trial ( pRIVATE Complaint institutes case ):
- On the filing of the complaint, the court will examine the complainant and his witnesses on the same day or any other day to decide whether a crime has been committed against the accused person.
- After examination of the complainant, the Magistrate may order an inquiry into the matter and submit a report for the same.
- After examination of the complaint and the inquiry report, if the court thinks that the prosecution has a genuine case and there are sufficient material & evidence with the prosecution to charge the accused then the Magistrate may issue a warrant or a summon depending on the facts and situations.
SUMMON TRIAL
A summons-cases is define to means a case relating to an offence, not being a warrant-case. A case in which the offense is a minor one for which a police officer may without arrest notify a person to appear in court at a fixed time and place. Summon case is a case for which punishment is less than two years.
Stages of Criminal Trial:
- Pre-trial
- Charges
- Plea of guilty
- Plea of guilty and absence of the condemned
- Prosecution and defense evidence
- Decision.
SUMMARY TRIAL
Summary-cases are the cases where cases resolved rapidly. The process is simple.
Stages of Criminal Trial:
- The process pursued in the summary trial is similar to summon-case.
- Imprisonment can be up to three months.
- The judgement.
- The judge should record the objects of the proof and a brief details of the finding of the law court with reasons.