Complainant sought separate trial after stay order passed by the high court against two co-accused. The complainant is frustrated by the order of the honourable high court which has stayed the proceedings against the co-accused because of bald and omnibus allegation made against them. Now the case has been stayed and no proceedings are going on. An application has moved by the counsel of complainant.
She prayed to separate the file of two co-accused and carry on trial against the husband. No charge has been framed by the magistrate in the matter. Now the application has been moved with the intention to delay the process and pressurise the accused.
I want to know whether the trial court can separate the file and frame charges against me. My parents case has been stayed by the interim order of the high court. If charges have framed by the magistrate then what is the possibility of trial and what would be the chance of the parents to face the trial?
Asked from: Madhya Pradesh
The Hon’ble High Court has stayed the proceedings against the two co-accused until the next date of hearing. The said order is interim in nature and does not constitute a final adjudication of the matter. The opposite party retains the right to appear before the High Court to object to the interim stay or to file an application for vacation of the stay order.
In these circumstances, it cannot be contended that the interim order of the High Court has resulted in a miscarriage of justice. The complainant bears the burden of establishing before the Magistrate that such an order has caused prejudice or a miscarriage of justice due to the inability to separate the case file or initiate a separate trial.
As per Section 223 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, when there is more than one accused charged with committing the same offence in the course of the same transaction, they shall ordinarily be charged and tried jointly, unless such a joint trial is likely to cause a miscarriage of justice. Therefore, unless the complainant can establish that a joint trial would be unjust, separate trials or separation of case files is not permissible.
The interim order of the High Court is temporary and does not, by itself, lead to any judicial delay or procedural irregularity. Hence, there is no legal basis for the separation of the file or for conducting a separate trial against one of the accused at this stage. Complainant has no legal ground to sought separate trial after stay order passed by the high court.
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