How to Frame a Charge (CrPC, 1973/Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

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Description
Judges and Magistrates in our country derive authority from a demo- cratic substratum, enshrined in the Constitution but like every other wings, the Judicature-a national institution serving the people, in the matter of recruitment of its functionaries, their job-performance and the day-to-day decision-making-has no participation of the people and now with the advent of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, and the resultant abolition of the Jury System, the first and the last and the least of such people's involvement, that ever was, is no more and the people and their so-called peers have just no links to communicate with each other. The author is no votary of the Jury System or the People's Court or the election of the judges and other officers, but the point sought to be highlighted is that since the Parliament in their wisdom, have now deemed proper to repose a tremendous confidence in the trial judge (and the Magistrate) by clothing him with unfettered authority, shorn of all popular control, does it not put a heavy premium on judicial learning, training and experience, so that justice is not rendered dependant on the whims, caprices and prejudices, if any, of an individual? In the matter of criminal trials, a practice seems to be on the increase among the trial courts to delegate the framing of charge to public prosecutors and readers of the court, and the author has, more than once, even come across blank documents on which signatures and thumb-marks of the accused persons had been obtained and the author was given to learn that the document was supposed to contain "the charge" to be filled in by the Presiding Officer, at any time convenient to him.
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Contents
1. The Theory Behind Charge Framing
2. From Concept to the Mundane
3. Joinder and Misjoinder of Charges and Clubbing of Cases
4. Charges Before Magistrates
5. Charge Before the Court of Session
6. The Crucial Steps
MODEL CHARGES
7. Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016
8. I. Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904 ..
II. Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958
III. Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972
9. Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016
10. Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 .
11. Arms Act, 1959
12. Atomic Energy Act, 1962
13. Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1886
14. Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015
15. Boilers Act, 1923
16. Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976
17. Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995
18. Chit Funds Act, 1982
19. Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003
20. Contempt of Courts Act, 1971
21. Copyright Act, 1957
22. Customs Act, 1962
23. Depositories Act, 1996
24. Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
25. Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940
26. Electricity Act, 2003
27. Emigration Act, 1983
28. Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
29. Essential Commodities Act, 1955
30. Explosive Substances Act, 1908
31. Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006
32. Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010
33. Foreign Marriage Act, 1969
34. Foreigners Act, 1946
35. Forest Act, 1927
36. Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1952
37. Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956
38. Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986
39. Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding-Bottles and Infant Foods
(Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 1992
.40. Information Technology Act, 2000
41. Insecticides Act, 1968
42. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015
43. Legal Metrology Act, 2009
44. Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998
45. Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971
46. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988
47. Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985
48. National Investigation Agency Act, 2008
49. Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
50. Official Secrets Act, 1923
51. Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860) and its successor Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act 45 of 2023)
52. Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991
53. Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994
54. Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
55. Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984
56. Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988
57. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
58. Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012
59. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002
60. Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
61. Railways Act, 1989
62. Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1966
63. Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
64. Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
65. State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005
66. Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Maritime
Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act, 2002
67. Trade Marks Act, 1999
68. Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994
69. Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967
70. Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
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Author Details
D.P. Varshni
Revised by
Jayanth Bhatt