Law: Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898)

Section: 540

(a) Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898)--- ----S. 540---Application for summoning material witness or examine person present--- Further cross-examination--- Scope--- Applicant assailed the dismissal of his application under S. 540, Cr.P.C. filed for re-calling and re-examining the alleged eye-witnesses for further cross-examination after a period of almost two years---Prosecution witnesses had already been cross-examined by the counsel for the accused---Trial could not be held in accordance with the wishes of the counsel for the accused and the witnesses could not be summoned only on the ground that the earlier defense counsel had failed to put material and necessary questions to the witnesses---Neither the defense nor the prosecution could be allowed to fill the lacuna by re-summoning of the witnesses under S. 540, Cr.P.C.---Revision application was dismissed. Mehrzad Khan v. The State PLD 1991 SC 430; Muhammad Yunus v. The State 2004 PCr.LJ 699; Muhammad Falak Sher v. The State and others PLD 2018 Lah. 13 and Muhammad Ashraf v. State and 4 others 2007 PCr.LJ 905 distinguished. Rasheed Ahmed v. Ibrahim and others 1996 PCr.LJ 1439 ref. (b) Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898)--- ----S. 540---Application for summoning material witness or examine person present---Scope---Section 540, Cr.P.C. is divided in two parts: First part is discretionary while second part is mandatory---Powers under second part could only be exercised when the Court is satisfied that further cross-examination will be essential for the just decision of the case---Section 540, Cr.P.C. imposes responsibility upon the Court that these powers must be exercised with due care and caution---Court cannot use these powers to advance the cause of prosecution or defense but these powers are only meant to advance the cause of justice---Powers under S. 540, Cr.P.C. are not meant to fill in the gaps or lacunas left by the parties to the proceedings. (c) Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898)--- ----S. 540---Power to summon material witness or examine person present---Further cross-examination---Scope---Opportunity of cross-examination cannot be repeated without valid reason and also not on the ground that now…

Deprecated: trim(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/digixyei/sldsystempk.com/view/master-layout/view_case.php on line 492