Case: Natasha Singh Vs. Cbi (State)

A. An FIR dated 10.8.1998 was registered under Section 120B read with Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as the `IPC) and Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as the Act 1988) against the appellant and other accused persons. After the conclusion of the investigation, a chargesheet was filed on 19.7.2001 by the investigating agency, i.e., CBI against Smt. Rita Singh (A-1), Mrs. Natasha Singh (A-2), appellant, and Mr. Y.V. Luthra (A-3), a Public ServantB. In view thereof, charges were framed by the learned Trial Court on 5.5.2003 against all the three accusedC. In support of its case, the prosecution examined 52 witnesses in the course of over 50 hearings and subsequent thereto, the statement of the appellant-accused was recorded on 28-29.1.2013 and 5.2.2013. The appellant, in her defence examined only one witness, namely, Sudhir Kumar (DW-2) and after proving certain documents closed her defence on 18.2.2013. The other accused, namely, Mr. Y.V. Luthra concluded his defence on 19.2.2013, after examining two defence witnesses, namely, Mr. A.K. Saxena and Mr. Satpal Arora. The Trial Court thereafter, fixed the date for hearing final arguments as 5.3.2013. The appellant preferred an application under Section 311 Cr.P.C. on 5.3.2013 for permission to examine three witnesses. The said application was dismissed by the Trial Court vide order dated 16.3.2013, against which the Criminal Misc. petition filed by the appellant was also dismissed by the High Court, by way of impugned order dated 8.4.2013

Court's reasoning:
The Trial Court, while entertaining the application filed under Section 311 Cr.P.C., had asked the appellant to provide a brief summary of the nature of evidence that would be provided by the defence witnesses mentioned in the application, and in keeping with this, the appellant had furnished an application stating that the appellant wished to examine one Shri B.B. Sharma who was one of the panchnama witnesses, and who the prosecution had neither listed nor examined in court. Therefore, the appellant wished to examine him in defence. The second person was Shri S.S. Batra, Company Secretary of the appellant, as he was the best person to provide greater details of the company of which the appellant is the Director. The third witness was a hand-writing expert, and it was necessary for the defence to examine him regarding the correctness of the signatures of the appellant and others, particularly with respect to the signatures of the appellant18. Undoubtedly, an application filed under Section 311 Cr.P.C. must be allowed if fresh evidence is being produced to facilitate a just decision, however, in the instant case, the learned Trial Court prejudged the evidence of the witness sought to be examined by the appellant, and thereby cause grave and material prejudice to the appellant as regards her defence, which tantamounts to a flagrant violation of the principles of law governing the production of such evidence in keeping with the provisions of Section 311 Cr.P.C. By doing so, the Trial Court reached the conclusion that the production of such evidence by the defence was not essential to facilitate a just decision of the case. Such an assumption is wholly misconceived, and is not tenable in law as the accused has every right to adduce evidence in rebuttal of the evidence brought on record by the prosecution. The court must examine whether such additional evidence is necessary to facilitate a just and proper decision of the case. The examination of the hand-writing expert may therefore be necessary to rebut the evidence of Rabi Lal Thapa (PW.40), and a request made for his examination ought not to have been rejected on the sole ground that the opinion of the hand-writing expert would not be conclusive. In such a situation, the only issue that ought to have been considered by the courts below, is whether the evidence proposed to be adduced was relevant or not. Identical is the position regarding the panchnama witness, and the court is justified in weighing evidence, only and only once the same has been laid before it and brought on record. Mr. B.B. Sharma, thus, may be in a position to depose with respect to whether the documents alleged to have been found, or to have been seized, were actually recovered or not, and therefore, from the point of view of the appellant, his examination might prove to be essential and imperative for facilitating a just decision of the case19. The High Court has simply quoted relevant paragraphs from the judgment of the Trial Court and has approved the same without giving proper reasons, merely observing that the additional evidence sought to be brought on record was not essential for the purpose of arriving at a just decision. Furthermore, the same is not a case where if the application filed by the appellant had been allowed, the process would have taken much time. In fact, disallowing the said application, has caused delay. No prejudice would have been caused to the prosecution, if the defence had been permitted to examine said three witnesses.