Cognizable offences are those
offences for which a police officer may arrest without court mandated warrant
in accordance with the first schedule of the code. For non-cognizable cases the
police officer may arrest only after being duly authorized by a warrant.
Non-cognizable offences are, generally, relatively less serious offences than
cognizable ones.
Summons-Case and Warrant-Case
Under Section 204 of the code, a
Magistrate taking cognizance of an offence is to issue summons for the
attendance of the accused if the case is a summons case. If the case appears to
be a warrant case, he may issue a warrant or summons, as he sees fit. Section
2(w) of the Code defines summons-case as, a case relating to an Offence, and not
being a warrant-case. Section 2(x) of the Code defines warrant-case as, a case
relating to an Offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life or
imprisonment for a term exceeding two years.
Bailable and Non-bailable
According to Section 2(a), bailable
offence are offences listed under the First Schedule as bailable or made
bailable under any other law for the time being in force. All other offences
are non-bailable.
Territorial extent, Scope and Applicability
The Criminal Procedure Code is
applicable in the whole of India
except in the State of Jammu and
Kashmir . The Parliament's power to legislate in
respect of Jammu & Kashmir is curtailed by Article 370 of the Constitution
of India.
Provided that the provisions of
this Code, other than those relating to Chapters VIII, X and XI thereof, shall
not apply-
(a) to the State of Nagaland , (b) to the
tribal areas,
However the concerned State
Government may, by notification apply any or all of these provisions in these
areas. Moreover, the Supreme Court of India has also ruled that even in these
areas, the authorities are to be governed by the substance of these rules.
Functionaries under the Code
ü
Magistrates and judges of the Supreme Court and
High Court
ü
Police
ü
Public prosecutors
ü
Defence Counsels
ü
Correctional services personnel
ü
Sentences which Magistrates may pass
The Court of a Chief Judicial
Magistrate may pass any sentence authorised by law except a sentence of death
or of imprisonment for life or of imprisonment for a term exceeding seven
years.
The Courts of Judicial Magistrate
of First Class may pass a sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding
three years, or of fine not exceeding ten thousand rupees (sub by act 25 of
2005 for rupees five thousand), or of both.
The Courts of Judicial Magistrate
of Second Class may pass a sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding
one year, or of fine not exceeding five thousand rupees(sub by act 25 of 2005
for rupees one thousand), or of both.
The Court of a Chief Metropolitan
Magistrate shall have the powers of the Court of a Chief Judicial Magistrate
and that of a Metropolitan Magistrate, the powers of the Courts of Judicial
Magistrate of First Class
Bail
There is no definition of the
term "bail" under the code though the terms "bailable" and
"non-bailable" have been defined.5] It has however been defined by
the Black's Law Lexicon as security for the appearance of the accused person on
giving which he is released pending trial or investigation6]
The First Schedule7] to the Code,
classifies the offences defined in the Indian Penal Code. Besides specifying
whether an offence is Bailable or Non-Bailable it also specifies if it is
Cognizable or Non-Cognizable, which Court has the jurisdiction to try the said
offence, the minimum and maximum amount of punishment that can or shall be
awarded for the said offence.
The Supreme Court of India can
and has from time to time made certain bailable offences, non-bailable or
vice-a-versa by special directions, to curb increasing menace of certain crimes
in the society.8] The State Government has the power to make certain offences
bailable or non-bailable in their respective States.9]
Judgements in abridged form
According to
Section 355 of the Code, a Metropolitan Magistrate may deliver judgements in
abridged form and should contain:
ü
Serial number of the case
ü
Date of commission of the offence
ü
Name of the complainant (if any)
ü
Name of the accused person, his parentage and
residence
ü
Offence complained of (or proved, as the case
may be)
ü
Plea of the accused and his examination (if any)
ü
Final order
ü
Date of the order
In cases where
appeal lies from the final order, a brief statement of reasons for the
decision.
Compensation and costs
The functions of
a civil court may be performed by a criminal court by virtue of Section 357,
358 and 359. This has been done to provide just, speedy and less expensive
redress to the victim.citation needed] The court is empowered to levy a fine
from the offender. Such fine may, wholly or in part, be used for the purpose of
compensating the victim as per the amendment of 2009. A new section 357A has
been inserted which talks of victim compensation scheme. Further in the year
2013 two new sections namely section 357B and section 357C were inserted to
make compensation to the victim (as defined under section 2(wa))in addition to
fine imposed under section 364A or 376D of the IPC as well as treatment of
victim respectively.
Evidence Act
The Indian Evidence Act, originally passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in 1872, during the British Raj,
contains a set of rules and allied issues governing admissibility of evidence
in the Indian courts of law.
The enactment and
adoption of the Indian Evidence Act was a path-breaking judicial measure
introduced in India ,
which changed the entire system of concepts pertaining to admissibility of
evidences in the Indian courts of law. Until then, the rules of evidences were
based on the traditional legal systems of different social groups and
communities of India
and were different for different people depending on caste, religious faith and
social position. The Indian Evidence Act and introduced a standard set of law
applicable to all Indians.
The law is mainly
based upon the firm work by Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, who could be
called the founding father of this comprehensive piece of legislation.
Applicability
When India gained independence on
15 August 1947, the Act continued to be in force throughout the Republic
of India and Pakistan,
except the state of Jammu
and Kashmir.Then,
the Act continues in force in India ,
but it was repealed in Pakistan
in 1984 by the Evidence Order 1984 (also known as the
"Qanun-e-Shahadat"). It also applies to all judicial proceedings in
the court, including the court martial. However, it does not apply on
affidavits and arbitration.
Contents
Part 1
Part 1 deals with
relevancy of the facts. There are two chapters under this part: the first
chapter is a preliminary chapter which introduces to the Evidence Act and the
second chapter specifically deals with the relevancy of the facts.
Part 2
Part 2 consists of
chapters from 3 to 6. Chapter 3 deals with facts which need not be proved,
chapter 4 deals with oral evidence, chapter 5 deals with documentary evidence
and chapter 6 deals with circumstances when documentary evidence has been given
preference over the oral evidence.
Part 3
The last part,
that is part 3, consists of chapter 7 to chapter 11. Chapter 7 talks about the
burden of proof. Chapter 8 talks about estoppel, chapter 9 talks about
witnesses, chapter 10 talks about examination of witnesses, and last chapter
which is chapter 11 talks about improper admission and rejection of evidence.
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