Law: Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898)

Section: 497(1)

Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898)-------S. 497(1), fourth proviso---Application of S. 497(1), fourth proviso, Cr.P.C.--­Words "in the opinion of the Court"---Connotation---"Hardened", "desparate" or "dangerous" "Criminal"---Meanings---Considerations for Court to determine whether an accused fell within S. 497(1), proviso fourth, Cr.P.C,. detailed.--­[Words and phrases). The normal rule stipulated in the Third proviso to section 497, Cr.P.C. was that an under trial- prisoner shall be released after expiry of the respective period, without the trial concluding. The Fourth proviso is in substance an exception to the aforesaid general rule contained in the Third proviso. Before the Court applies the exceptional provisions of the Fourth proviso, it has to form an opinion that the accused was a previous convict or a criminal of one of the categories described therein. The words are "in the opinion of the Court". Such opinion cannot be obviously subjective but must be based upon materials placed before the Court, reasonably supporting the conclusion that the person concerned is a criminal of the classes described. The word "criminal" has not been defined. It will not be proper and indeed would be difficult to define it or give it a specific meaning. However, it is a common word of the English language. Word criminal carries several meanings, including the meaning a person accused of a crime. In the context of the provisions under construction, the word cannot be construed in the technical sense, namely, that a formal accusation must be made against the person or that he should have been adjudged guilty of a charge in a Court of law. It appears to have been used in the sense of a person who violates the law of the land. The three adjectives qualifying the word "criminal" may also be examined. The word "harden" has been defined to mean, inter alia, (1) to render or make hard; to indurate, (2) to embolden, confirm, (3) to make callous or unfeeling and (4) to make persistent or obdurate in a course of action or state of mind. The word "hardened" has also been defined to mean "made hard, indurated; rendered callous; hard-hearted; obdurately determined in a course". The…

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