Criminal Law : Supreme Court Points out Failure of Court Noting Carbon Copies of Statements ; Allows Appeal of Murder-Accused in its Recent Judgment passed in December 2025

Criminal Law : Supreme Court Points out Failure of Court Noting Carbon Copies of Statements ; Allows Appeal of Murder-Accused in its Recent Judgment passed in December 2025

In case of Chandan Pasi v. State of Bihar [2025] GCtR 1763 (SC), appeal of murder-accused has been allowed. 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 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

It was commented that "the statements extracted above reveal a sorry state of affairs - an abject failure on the part of the Court in complying with the basic tenets of law. The statements given by all three persons are carbon copies of each other. How such statements can pass muster at the hands of the learned Trial Judge is something which we fail to understand."