Supreme Court Says Seeking "Discharge" Against Framing Of Charges A Valuable Right To Accused

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana said it is well settled that the trial court while considering the discharge application is not to act as a mere post office.

Seeking "discharge" against framing of charges in a criminal case is a valuable right provided to the accused under the law, the Supreme Court has said while asking courts to consider the case on merits. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana said it is well settled that the trial court while considering the discharge application is not to act as a mere post office. "The Court has to sift through the evidence in order to find out whether there are sufficient grounds to try the suspect. The court has to consider the broad probabilities, total effect of evidence and documents produced and the basic infirmities appearing in the case. Likewise, the Court has sufficient discretion to order further investigation in appropriate cases, if need be," said the bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose.