LAW FOR ALL

when the identification of accused alone was deposed in two different versions after gain over of the wintess and when other aspects of recovery etc., not challanged/ proved, and in the absence of proper explanation, a conviction can be safely imposed even on the partly Hostiled wintess who turned hostile due to long adjournment for cross examination under sec.309 =Section 309 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short “the Code”) is the only provision which confers power on the trial court for granting adjournments in criminal proceedings.- True the Court has discretion to defer the cross- examination. But as a matter of rule, the Court cannot orders in express terms that the examination-in-chief of the witnesses is recorded in a particular month and his cross-examination would follow in particular subsequent month. Even otherwise it is the demand of the criminal jurisprudence that criminal trial must proceed day-to-day. The fixing of dates only for examination-in- chief of the lengthy witnesses and fixing another date i.e. 3 months later for the purposes of cross-examination is certainly against the criminal administration of justice. Examination-in- chief if commenced on a particular date, the Trial Judge has to ensure that his cross-examination must conclude either on the same date or the next day if cross-examination is lengthy or can continue on the consecutive dates. But postponing the cross- examination to a longer period of 3 month is certainly bound to create legal complications as witnesses whose examination-in- chief recorded earlier may insist on refreshing their memory and therefore such an occasion should not be allowed to arise particularly when it is the demand of the criminal law that trial once commence must take place on day-to-day basis. For these reasons, the order passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge to that extent will not hold good in the eyes of law and therefore the same is liable to be set aside. Set aside as such. Learned Additional Sessions Judge should refix the schedule of dates of examination of prosecution witnesses and shall ensure that examination-in-chief once commences cross- examination is completed without any interruption.”