Chandan Pasi & Ors. v. State of Bihar; 2025 INSC 1371 - Criminal Trial - S.313 CrPC - Public Prosecutor

Criminal Trial - Public Prosecutor - The prosecutor is an officer of the Court and holds a solemn duty to act in the interest of justice. They cannot act as a defence lawyer, but for the State, with the sole aim of making the gauntlet of punishment fall on the accused.  (Para 9)

Criminal Trial - One of the non-negotiable requirements of a fair trial is that the accused persons should have ample opportunity to dispel the case and claims of the prosecution against them. This ample opportunity can take many forms, whether it is adequate representation through counsel or the opportunity to call witnesses to present their side of the case or to have the occasion to answer each and every allegation against them, on their own, in their own words. The last one happens under Section 313 CrPC. (Para 6) A trial is a function of memory; it is this memory that, when translated into spoken word testimony on oath, becomes evidence, and thus the same is susceptible to the vagaries of time.  (Para 10)

Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 313- Scope - Referred to precedents, (Para 7)