This article is written by ELAVARASI. P from THE TAMIL NADU Dr. AMBEDKAR LAW UNIVERSITY

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION:

Laws are mainly of two types; substantive laws and procedural laws. Substantive laws deals with the rights and liabilities and duties of citizens . It is made to protect the Interest of the citizens. Those are called statutory laws. It determines the laws and provides punishment for those who does not following certain laws. For example: IPC, Industrial disputes Act, Maternity benefit Act. Meanwhile, procedural law says how laws should be applied and executed. It is also called Adjective laws. For Example: cpc and Crpc. Both Substantive and Procedural Laws are important branches of Law. One cannot function without the help of other. Objectives of both the substantive and procedural law is to advance the course of justice. Courts are the Guardians that helps individual to protect their rights and liberties. In this article let’s briefly discuss about various classes of criminal courts that are said in the criminal procedure code.

WHAT IS CrPC?

CrPC – Criminal Procedure Code

Crpc is the main legislation on procedure for administration of sustantive criminal laws in India. When a person commits an offences he needs to be Prosecuted according to his criminal act , only then the punishment shall be given. This is exactly why CrPC came into existence. In 1898 it was first came into force in the name of code of criminal procedure. Later it was amended in 1973 as criminal procedure code. It was brought into force on April 1974. This code is not entirely procedural , some of it’s provisions confer substantial rights. It contains 484 sections and 37 chapters. This code has been amber many times.

COURTS :

Court is the place where the justice Is held impartially. It is a place where the trials are conducted and the prosecution are held and the judgement is given, so as to ensure that justice is delivered to the parties of the case. It is a place where the dispute between the parties are resolved through trials and legal process. Generally there are 3 types of courts, namely ;

Civil court
Criminal Court and
Revenue court.

Let’s discuss briefly about criminal courts that are said under CrPC.

WHAT IS A CRIMINAL COURT?

Criminal courts are the courts which have the authority or power or jurisdiction to quickly solve the criminal matters( crimes) that are said in criminal law. These criminal courts helps to solve the criminal disputes that arise in the society. Generally the state or the government files the criminal case in the criminal courts. This is because whenever a crime is committed against the victim it is not only against the victim but also against this state. Because the primary duty of the state is to maintain law and order in the country. Hence, the crime committed is considered to be against the state and the state can be directly involved in it.

CLASSES OF CRIMINAL COURTS :

There are six different classes of criminal Courts under CrPC, they are ;

Supreme Court
High Court
Courts of Session ( session Court)
Judicial Magistrates of the first class ( Metropolitan Magistrate)
Judicial Magistrates of the second class
Executive Magistrates

SUPREME COURT :

Supreme Court is the Apex court and head of all other courts.
The Indian constitution stated that this court has a jurisdiction to deal with all cases that are criminal in nature.
It is stated in Article 132, 133 and 134 of the Indian constitution that the Supreme Court has the power to trail the criminal matters.
The Indian constitution also states that this court must be present in each state.
section 379 of crpc says about the appeal in Supreme Court.
section 406 of crpc states that the Supreme Court has the power to transfer cases and appeals from one High Court to another High Court.

HIGH COURT :

Article 214 of the Indian constitution states that the High Court must be established for each state within the territory of India.
Article 227 of the Indian constitution states that every High Court must control or look after or supervise all the courts and tribunals within its jurisdiction, except for the courts for armed forces.
Section 483 of crpc states that the High Court has a duty to exercise a control over the courts of judicial magistrates subordinate to it. It also says that it must exercise a continuous control over those courts within its jurisdiction.
This code also gives certain power and duties to the High Court. It includes powers to appeal, amend, bail, confer death sentence and it also gives the power to pass any sentence mentioned by law.

SESSIONS COURT :

Sessions court are also known as court of session.
Section 6 of CrPC states that apart from the Supreme Court, High Court and courts composed under any law, the following courts must be present in every state of India;
Sessions court
Judicial magistrate of first class
Judicial magistrate of second class
Executive magistrate
Section 9 of CrPC provides that the state must establish a court of session for every session division which is to be governed by the judge.
And this judge shall be appointed by the High Court.
The High Court also appoints the additional session judges and assistant session judges to govern the Court of session.
section 10(1) provides that all the assistant session judges are subordinate to the session judges. Also this code has no power to grant bail in a serious cases.
Session judge can give any punishment authorised by the law and the sentence he can provide are given in section 29(1) of CrPC.

COURTS OF JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE FIRST CLASS AND SECOND CLASS :

The provisions regarding these courts are described under section 11 and 12 of crpc.
Section 11(1) of CrPC provides that the court of judicial magistrate of first class and second class must be established in such number, at such places according to the specifications given by the High Court.
These courts are not established in metropolitan area.
The state government can also establish special courts of judicial magistrate of first class or second class to attempt any particular case only after consulting with the High Court.
Section 11(2) of CrPC states that the presiding officers of these courts shall be appointed by the High Court.
Section 11(3) of CrPC grants power to High Court to direct the powers of judicial magistrate of first class or second class on any member of a judicial service of the state who is functioning as a judge in civil court.
Section 12(1)of CrPC provides that the Judicial magistrate of first class must be appointed as the chief judicial magistrate in every district by the High Court.
Section 29(2) of CrPC states that the judicial magistrate of first class can punish the accused person with the imprisonment up to 3 years or fine up to ₹10,000. By the amendment in 2005, the fine amount was increased to ₹15,000.
section 29(3) of CrPC states that the judicial magistrate of second class can pass a sentence of imprisonment of one year or a fine of ₹5000. It was amended in 2005.

COURT OF METROPOLITAN MAGISTRATE:

The provisions related to the court of metropolitan magistrates are said in section 16 of CrPC.
The state government is responsible to establish the courts of metropolitan magistrates in every metropolitan area. This is stated under section 16(1) of CrPC.
The state government shall establish these courts by the specifications given by the High court.

EXECUTIVE MAGISTRATES :

The Executive Magistrates are appointed by the state government.
They are also known as special executive magistrates.
The term for the appointment of those magistrates are decided by the state government and this is stated in section 21 of CrPC.
They are appointed to fulfil the special needs of particular area or appointed to do a particular function in a particular area.
The local jurisdiction of the executive magistrates are determined by the district Magistrates (section 21(1) of CrPC).
These courts are under the control of the state government
Section 21(2) of CrPC states that if the jurisdiction of the executive magistrate is not defined, then the power and jurisdiction of every such magistrate shall extend to the whole of the district.

POWERS OF CRIMINAL COURTS:

The powers of criminal courts are mentioned in chapter III from section 26 to 35.

Section 26 of CrPC says about the courts by which offences are triable. They can be classified into two sectors.
1. Offences under IPC :
The offences under IPC shall be dealt by High Court or court of sessions are the courts mentioned under first schedule.
In 2009 a proviso was attached to it.
It states that any offence committed under section 376 of IPC Shall be trialled by the court presided by a lady judge
1. Offences under other laws :
If the laws specifically mentioned the courts where the trail should be conducted then the mentioned court shall trial those cases.
If no court was specifically mentioned then the High Court or the courts mentioned in the first schedule shall trial those offences.
Section 27 of CrPC states about the jurisdiction of courts in case of juveniles.
If the offence committed is not punishable with death or life imprisonment and it is committed by a person who is under 16 years of age then that case shall we trialled by Court of chief judicial magistrate or any other court that specifically empowered children’s Act 1960. These are governed by Juvenile Justice Act also.
Section 28 of CrPC mentions the sentencing power of high court and court of sessions.
- High court has the power to give any sentence authorised by law.
- Sessions judge and Additional session judge have the same power but only different in seniority.
- Both of them has the power to give any sentence authorised by law. But death sentence must be confirmed by the High Court under section 366 of CrPC.
- Assistant session judge has a power to pass any sentence by law except death sentence, life imprisonment and imprisonment exceeding 10 years.
Section 29 of CrPC mentions the sentencing power of magistrate.
Courts of the chief judicial magistrate, assistant chief judicial magistrate and chief metropolitan magistrate has the same power to sentence a person not exceeding 7 years of imprisonment
the judicial magistrate of first class and the metropolitan magistrate has a power to imprison a person not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding 10,000 or both
Judicial magistrate of second class has a power to sentence a person for imprisonment not exceeding one year or fine of ₹5000 or both.
Section 30 talks about the sentence of imprisonment in default of fine.
When a accused person was punished with a fine and if it is not paid, then the law states that he can be imprisoned for a certain period of time if he was already sentenced to imprisonment then this sentence shall be added with the previous one.
This provision is only applicable to the magistrate and it should not exceed the power stated in section 29.
The imprisonment for the default must not exceed 1/4 of the term of imprisonment awarded for the substantive offense.
Section 31 applies when more than one offence is trailed at the same trial. It shall be executed in 2 ways, concurrent or consecutive sentence.
Section 32 states the powers of the High Court or the State Government which empowers the person specially by name or in virtue of their offices or classes of officials generally be their official titles.
Section 33 states various powers of officers appointed.
Section 34 is states the withdrawal of power by the High Court or the State Government, of the powers conferred by it. Any powers conferred by the Chief Judicial Magistrate or by the District Magistrate may be withdrawn by the respective Magistrate by whom such powers were conferred.
Section 35 is concerned about the powers of Judges and Magistrates exercisable by their successors-in-office.

CASES:

Harsishchandra Vs. Kavindra Narain Sinha (1937)

In this case the Court held that the High Court shall not take cognizance of the offence right away, it must have to follow the procedures given by the Codes.

Bashiruddin Ashraaf v. State of Bihar, 1957.

In this case the court noted that if offense is only punished with the fine and there is a default in paying that fine then the punishment shall be simple imprisonment for the default.

State of U.P. v. Kishan 2005

In this case the Supreme Court held that awarding a sentence is to protect the society and to punish the criminal. If there is a sympathetic view or a liberal attitude while imposing sentence to the criminal, it may result in injustice. the punishment thus awarded must be confirmed to and be consistent with the atrocity and brutality for which the crime has been perpetrated. And the punishment that is given must respond to the society’s cry for justice.

State of Madhya Pradesh v. Ghanshyam Singh (2003)

In this case the court held that the long pendency of a matter cannot justify lesser sentence. Also in this case the court observed that the undue sympathy shall do more home to the Justice system and it will undermine the public confidence about the efficiency of law. Thus, the judgement given must be without any undue influence or any sympathetic means.

CONCLUSION :

In conclusion the codes are the means to provide justice to the citizen of India. It has a very complex procedures and those procedures are covered under CPC and crpc. the hierarchy of the goat itself is a complex structure that has been detailed late discussed in this article. the quotes and the judges who preside over those quotes and their powers are all very much important to know the basis of criminal law. Thus the procedures laid down by this code helps us to guide the process of judicial process and procedures.

REFERENCE :

Ratanlal & Dhirajlal: Indian Penal Code (PB) (LexisNexis, 36^th ed, 2020)

R.V. Kelkar’s Criminal Procedure ( Eastern Book Company, 6^th ed, 2014)

Powers of criminal courts granted by Criminal Procedure Code, available at https://primelegal.in/ 2023/01/07/powers-of-the-criminal-courts-in-india , ( last visited on December 7,2023).

Harsishchandra Vs. Kavindra Narain Sinha (1937) AIR 1936 All 830,

Bashiruddin Ashraaf v. State of Bihar, A.I.R. 1957 S.C. 645.

State of U.P. v. Kishan 2005 Cr LJ 333(S.C)

State of Madhya Pradesh v. Ghanshyam Singh (2003) Cri.L.J. 4339 (S.C.),