Legal Provisions of Section 254 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.), India.
Procedure when not convicted:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
If the accused does not plead guilty under Section 252, the Magistrate shall hear the complainant and his witnesses; and he cannot acquit or convict the accused without such examination.
The Magistrate is bound to take all such evidence as may be produced by the prosecution. He is also bound to examine all the witnesses produced by the accused. In a defamation case, the accused admitted publication of a defamatory article but they wanted to justify the publication by producing certain documents and examining certain witnesses. It was held that the Magistrate should not have refused to issue process for examination of defence witnesses and he ought to have summoned them for giving evidence.
After examining the witnesses, the Magistrate is bound to make a memorandum of the substance of their evidence in the language of the Court.
The Supreme Court in State of Uttar Pradesh M. Man Mohan, held that Magistrate’s order under Section 254 cannot be interfered with by the High Court unless it has been shown that the prosecution was based on totally false, frivolous or vexatious grounds and there was abuse of the process of law in the case.
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