Summary Trials Sections 283 to 288

Section 283, BNSS 2023

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Sanhita — (a) any Chief Judicial Magistrate; (b) any Magistrate of the first class, shall try in a summary way all or any of the following offences —

(i) theft, where the value of the property stolen does not exceed the amount specified; (ii) receiving or retaining stolen property of that value; (iii) assisting in the concealment or disposal of stolen property of that value; (iv) lurking house-trespass or house-breaking; (v) insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, and criminal intimidation punishable with a term of imprisonment up to two years, or with fine, or with both; (vi) abetment of any of the foregoing offences; (vii) an attempt to commit any of the foregoing offences, where such attempt is an offence; (viii) any offence constituted by an act in respect of which a complaint may be made under the specified provision of the Cattle-trespass Act, 1871.

(2) No sentence of imprisonment for a term exceeding three months shall be passed in the case of any conviction under this section.

(3) When, in the course of a summary trial, it appears to the Magistrate that the nature of the case is such that it is undesirable to try it summarily, the Magistrate shall recall any witnesses who may have been examined and proceed to re-hear the case in the manner provided by this Sanhita.

⚠ Three points on the power

It is a power and not a duty in substance. Although the section says the Magistrate “shall try” the listed offences summarily, the discretion is preserved by sub-section (3): the moment it appears undesirable to try the case summarily, he must abandon the procedure.

The three-month cap is absolute. It operates however serious the particular case turns out to be, and it is the reason a Magistrate who finds the case deserving of more must rehear it in the ordinary way rather than pass a longer sentence.

The second-class Magistrate’s power is conferred, not inherent. It comes from a High Court conferment under section 284, and it is confined to offences punishable with fine only or with imprisonment up to six months.

Sections 286 and 287, BNSS 2023

Section 286. In every case tried summarily, the Magistrate shall enter, in such form as the State Government may prescribe, the following particulars — (a) the serial number of the case; (b) the date of the commission of the offence; (c) the date of the report or complaint; (d) the name of the complainant, if any; (e) the name, parentage and residence of the accused; (f) the offence complained of and the offence proved, and in the specified cases, the value of the property in respect of which the offence has been committed; (g) the plea of the accused and his examination, if any; (h) the finding; (i) the sentence or other final order; (j) the date on which the proceedings terminated.

Section 287. In every case tried summarily in which the accused does not plead guilty, the Magistrate shall record the substance of the evidence and a judgment containing a brief statement of the reasons for the finding.

Section 288. Every such record and judgment shall be written in the language of the Court.

📖 Nitinbhai Saevatilal Shah v. Manubhai Manjibhai Panchal, (2011) 9 SCC 638

Facts: A conviction recorded in a case tried summarily was challenged on the ground that the Magistrate had not recorded the substance of the evidence as the statute requires, so that the appellate court had no means of knowing what the witnesses had said. The question was the consequence of a failure to keep the record the Chapter prescribes.

Held: The Supreme Court held that the requirement to record the substance of the evidence in a summarily tried case in which the accused does not plead guilty is mandatory. The abbreviated record permitted by the Chapter is a concession to expedition, not a dispensation from keeping any record at all, and it exists on the footing that what is recorded will be sufficient to enable an appellate court to review the finding. Where the record is so deficient that the appellate court cannot see what evidence was given, the conviction cannot be sustained, because there is nothing on which the finding can be tested. The Court held that in such a case the proper course is to set aside the conviction and direct a retrial, rather than to acquit, since the deficiency is in the record and not in the case; and it observed that the failure to keep the record properly costs the system far more than keeping it would have.

Ratio: The requirement to record the substance of the evidence in a summary trial is mandatory, because the record must be sufficient for an appellate court to review the finding. A conviction on a deficient record is set aside, and the ordinary course is a retrial.

📖 J.V. Baharuni v. State of Gujarat, (2014) 10 SCC 494

Facts: A case triable summarily was in fact tried following the summons-case procedure in its ordinary form, with a fuller record than the Chapter requires. It was contended that the trial was vitiated because the procedure prescribed for summary trials had not been followed, and questions arose as to the relationship between the two procedures and the consequence of a departure.

Held: The Supreme Court held that a summary trial is a species of summons trial: the Chapter expressly directs that the summons-case procedure be followed, and what it modifies is only the record and the judgment. It followed that a trial conducted with a fuller record than the Chapter requires does not prejudice the accused and does not vitiate the proceeding; the prescription of an abbreviated record is a concession, and a party cannot complain that he received more than the minimum. The Court held that the converse is not true: a record less than section 286 and section 287 require is a real deficiency, because the sufficiency of the record is what makes appellate review possible. It emphasised that the Magistrate must decide at the outset, and keep under review, whether the case is fit to be tried summarily, and must rehear it in the ordinary way the moment it appears that it is not.

Ratio: A summary trial is a species of summons trial, modified only as to the record and the judgment. A fuller record than the Chapter requires causes no prejudice; a lesser one does.

The position stated shortly

1. A summary trial is a species of summons trial. Section 285 directs that the summons-case procedure be followed, and the Chapter modifies only the record and the judgment: J.V. Baharuni.

2. Section 283 lists the offences — theft and receiving or retaining or assisting in the disposal of stolen property below the specified value, lurking house-trespass, house-breaking, insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, criminal intimidation, and abetments and attempts.

3. A Chief Judicial Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first class may try those offences summarily. A Magistrate of the second class may do so only where the High Court confers the power under section 284, and only for offences punishable with fine only or imprisonment up to six months.

4. No sentence of imprisonment exceeding three months may be passed in a summary trial: section 283(2). The cap is absolute.

5. Section 283(3): where it appears that the case is one it is undesirable to try summarily, the Magistrate shall recall the witnesses and rehear the case in the manner the Sanhita provides.

6. Section 286 prescribes the particulars that must be entered in every case tried summarily, and the list is mandatory.

7. Section 287: where the accused does not plead guilty, the Magistrate shall record the substance of the evidence and a judgment containing a brief statement of the reasons.

8. That requirement is mandatory, because the record must be sufficient for an appellate court to review the finding. A conviction on a deficient record cannot be sustained: Nitinbhai Saevatilal Shah.

9. Where the record is deficient the ordinary course is a retrial, not an acquittal, since the defect is in the record and not in the case.

10. A record fuller than the Chapter requires causes no prejudice and does not vitiate the trial; a record lesser than it requires does.