Difference between revisions of "India Criminal Defense Manual - Rights of the Accused and Exceptional Circumstances"

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6 An entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention regarding the arrest of the person which shall also disclose the name of the next friend of the person who has been informed of the arrest and the names and particulars of the police officials in whose custody the arrestee is.  
 
6 An entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention regarding the arrest of the person which shall also disclose the name of the next friend of the person who has been informed of the arrest and the names and particulars of the police officials in whose custody the arrestee is.  
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7 The arrestee should, where he so requests, be also examined at the time of his arrest and major and minor injuries, if any present on his/ her body, must be recorded at that time.  The "Inspection Memo" must be signed both by the arrestee and the police officer affecting the arrest and a copy provided to the arrestee.
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8 The arrestee should be subjected to medical examination every 48 hours during his detention in custody by a trained doctor on the panel of approved doctors appointed by the Director of Health Services of the concerned State or Union Territory. The Director of Health Services should prepare such a panel for all Tehsils and Districts, as well.
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9 Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest, referred to above, should be sent to the Illaqa Magistrate for his record.
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10 The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not throughout the interrogation.
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11 A police control room should be provided at all District and State Headquarters, where information regarding the arrest and the place of custody of the arrestee shall be communicated by the officer causing the arrest, within 12 hours of effecting the arrest and at the police control room it should be displayed on a conspicuous notice board. The accused has the right to be treated decently while he is in custody. He must be provided with food and drink, clothing as necessary as well as sleeping and washing facilities.  The accused cannot be "punished" or treated as guilty while he awaits trial.  While detained, the accused retains the right to court access and to a legal aid lawyer.  That access may be subject to security restrictions typically used in a detention facility.
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== RIGHTS TO APPEAL AGAINST CONVICTIONS ==
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Section 374 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 states that any person convicted on a trial held by a High Court in its extraordinary original criminal jurisdiction may appeal to the Supreme Court.  Any person convicted on a trial held by a Sessions Judge or an Additional Sessions Judge or on a trial held by any other Court in which a sentence of imprisonment for more than seven years has been passed against him, may appeal to the High Court. Any person convicted on a trial held by a Metropolitan Magistrate or Assistant Sessions Judge or Magistrate of the
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first class, or of the second class, may appeal to the Court of Session.
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Any miscarriage of justice that demonstrates prejudice to the accused is a potential ground of reversal of the trial on appeal.<ref>State of Punjab v. Baldev Singh , (1999) 6 SCC 172 , at page 206</ref>  However, any mistake which does not jeopardize the fundamental fairness of the trial is not grounds for reversal on appeal.  By way of  example, if a case which should have been tried as a warrant case is tried as a summons case (where the standards for recording of evidence are lower) there would be grounds for reversal, but the same would not be true in reverse.  It the best practice to bring up irregularities as soon as possible during the case, rather than to present them on appeal. However, an appeal cannot be thrown out only because irregularities were not brought up during the original trial. Finally, a strong case for reversal on appeal would be if police discounted evidence which could have helped exonerate the accused.<ref>Pursottam  Jathanand v. State of Kutch,  AIR  1954 SC 700</ref> A full list of irregularities which do or do not overturn a trial on appeal are listed in the Cr.P.C.<ref>Section 460-466 Chapter XXXV of the Criminal Procedure Code</ref>
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If it appears to the Magistrate by whom the case is heard that there was no sufficient ground for causing an arrest, the Magistrate may award such compensation, not exceeding one thousand rupees, to be paid by the person so causing the arrest to the person so arrested, for his loss of time and expenses in the matter, as the Magistrate thinks fit.<ref> Section 358 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973</ref> Criminal charges may also be filed on the police for wrongful confinement.
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Revision as of 11:16, 9 June 2010