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Issue for consideration:In cases relating to offences arising out of the Vyapam Scam,respondents-accused filed applications seeking direction to supplya Hindi translation of the charge sheet filed by the appellant inEnglish language. Rejected by Magistrate and Sessions Court.High Court whether justified in interfering and inter alia holdingthat Hindi was the only language of the Criminal Courts in theState of MP and therefore, the respondents were entitled to seektranslation of the charge sheet into the language of the Court.Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.173 – Language of thefinal report/charge sheet, if to be in the language of the Courtdetermined in accordance with s.272, CrPC:Held: There is no specific provision in CrPC which requires theinvestigating agency/officer to file it in the language of the Courtdetermined in accordance with s.272 – Even if such a requirementis read into s.173, per se, the proceedings will not be vitiated ifthe report is not in the language of the Court – The test of failureof justice will have to be applied in such a case as laid down ins.465, CrPC – When a copy of the report and the documents aresupplied to the accused u/s.207 and/or s.208, an opportunity isavailable for the accused to contend that he does not understand thelanguage in which the final report or the statements or documentsare written – But he must raise this objection at the earliest – Insuch a case, if the accused is appearing in person and wantsto defend himself without opting for legal aid, there may be arequirement of supplying a translated version of the charge sheetand documents or the relevant part thereof concerning the saidaccused to him – It is, however, subject to the accused satisfyingthe Court that he is unable to understand the language in whichthe charge sheet is submitted – On facts, it cannot be said thatnon-supply of translation of the charge sheet and other documentsto 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 alanguage other than the language of the Court or the languagewhich the accused does not understand, if illegal:Held: No – A charge sheet filed within the period provided eitheru/s.167, CrPC or any other relevant statute in a language otherthan the language of the Court or the language which the accuseddoes not understand, is not illegal and no one can claim a defaultbail 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 underCrPC – The power of the State Government is to determine forthe purposes of CrPC what shall be the language of the Courtswithin the State other than the High Court – Power u/s.272 is not apower to decide which language shall be used by the investigatingagencies or the police for the purposes of maintaining the recordof the investigation – Wherever the legislature intended, there is aspecific provision incorporated requiring the Court to mandatorilyuse the language of the Court in the proceedings – There is nosuch requirement laid down in respect of the report/charge sheetu/s.173. [Paras 12 and 15]Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.465 – Test of the failureof justice – Error, omission, or irregularity in the trial:Held: s.465 incorporates the same test of the failure of justice ass.464 while dealing with any error, omission, or irregularity in theproceedings – While deciding whether there is a failure of justiceoccasioned due to error, omission, or irregularity in the trial, theCourt is required to consider the fact whether the objection couldand should have been raised at an earlier stage in the proceedings– There is a specific provision to that effect under sub-section (2) ofs.465 – Thus, in a given case, if something which CrPC specificallyrequires to be done in the language of the Court is done in anyother language, per se, the proceedings will not be vitiated unlessit 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 raisedat 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 theCourt – Relevant provisions of CrPC having bearing on theissue of – Summarised. [Para 14] |
