Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.173 – Language of the final report/charge sheet, if to be in the language of the Court determined in accordance with s.272, CrPC:
Held: There is no specific provision in CrPC which requires the investigating agency/officer to file it in the language of the Court determined in accordance with s.272 – Even if such a requirement is read into s.173, per se, the proceedings will not be vitiated if the report is not in the language of the Court – The test of failure of justice will have to be applied in such a case as laid down in s.465, CrPC – When a copy of the report and the documents are supplied to the accused u/s.207 and/or s.208, an opportunity is available for the accused to contend that he does not understand the language in which the final report or the statements or documents are written – But he must raise this objection at the earliest – In such a case, if the accused is appearing in person and wants to defend himself without opting for legal aid, there may be a requirement of supplying a translated version of the charge sheet and documents or the relevant part thereof concerning the said accused to him – It is, however, subject to the accused satisfying the Court that he is unable to understand the language in which the charge sheet is submitted – On facts, it cannot be said that non-supply of translation of the charge sheet and other documents to the accused in both appeals will occasion failure of justice – Impugned orders set aside. [Paras 18, 19 and 22] Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – Charge sheet filed in a language other than the language of the Court or the language which the accused does not understand, if illegal:
Held: No – A charge sheet filed within the period provided either u/s.167, CrPC or any other relevant statute in a language other than the language of the Court or the language which the accused does not understand, is not illegal and no one can claim a default bail on that ground. [Para 19] Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.272 – Power under: Held: s.272 deals with only the language of the Courts under CrPC – The power of the State Government is to determine for the purposes of CrPC what shall be the language of the Courts within the State other than the High Court – Power u/s.272 is not a power to decide which language shall be used by the investigating agencies or the police for the purposes of maintaining the record of the investigation – Wherever the legislature intended, there is a specific provision incorporated requiring the Court to mandatorily use the language of the Court in the proceedings – There is no such requirement laid down in respect of the report/charge sheet u/s.173. [Paras 12 and 15]
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.465 – Test of the failure of justice – Error, omission, or irregularity in the trial: Held: s.465 incorporates the same test of the failure of justice as s.464 while dealing with any error, omission, or irregularity in the proceedings – While deciding whether there is a failure of justice occasioned due to error, omission, or irregularity in the trial, the Court is required to consider the fact whether the objection could and should have been raised at an earlier stage in the proceedings – There is a specific provision to that effect under sub-section (2) of s.465 – Thus, in a given case, if something which CrPC specifically requires to be done in the language of the Court is done in any other language, per se, the proceedings will not be vitiated unless it is established that the omission has resulted in failure of justice – While deciding the issue of whether there is a failure of justice, the Court will have to consider whether the objection was raised at the earliest available opportunity. [Paras 16 and 17]
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – ss.211(6), 215, 228(2), 240, 272, 265, 277(b), 279, 281, 354, 353 – Language of the Court – Relevant provisions of CrPC having bearing on the issue of – Summarised. [Para 14] OTHER CASE DETAILS INCLUDING IMPUGNED
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As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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