Gholam Yousaf v. The Crown PLD 1953 Lah. 213 ref.
(d) Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898)------Ss. 464 & 465---Accused incapable of making his/her defence due to mental
illness---Prima facie subjective view formed by the Trial Court---Medical opinion--Whether the Trial Court could form a prima facie subjective view regarding the
incapability of the accused to make his/her defence without the opinion of the
medical expert---Held, that the terms "reason to believe" and "appears to the Court"
used in Ss.464 & 465, Cr.P.C., were to be interpreted as a prima facie tentative
opinion of the Court, which was not a subjective view based on impressions but one
which was based on an objective assessment of the material and information placed
before the Court or already available on record in the police file and case file--While forming a prima facie tentative opinion, the Court may give due
consideration to its own observations in relation to the conduct and demeanour of
an accused person---Once the Court had formed a prima facie tentative opinion that
the accused may be incapable of understanding the proceedings of trial or make
his/her defence, it became obligatory upon the Court to embark upon conducting an
inquiry to decide the issue of incapacity of the accused to face trial due to mental
illness---Medical opinion was sine qua non in such an inquiry.
Whenever the trial Court was put to notice, either by express claim made on
behalf of the accused or through Court's own observations, regarding the issue of
incapability of accused to understand the proceedings of trial and to make his/her
defence, the same shall be taken seriously while keeping in mind the importance of
procedural fairness and due process guaranteed under the Constitution and the law.
Terms "reason to believe" and "appears to the Court" used in sections 464 and
465, Cr.P.C. were synonymous and referred to a tentative opinion which had to be
formed for the purpose of deciding whether or not to enquire into the issue of
capability of the accused to face trial as a question of fact. The terms "reason to
believe" and "appears to the Court" were to be interpreted as a prima facie tentative
opinion of the Court, which was not a subjective view based on impressions but one
which was based on an objective assessment of the material and information placed
before the Court or already available on record in the police file and case file.
While forming a prima facie tentative opinion, the Court may give due
consideration to its own observations in relation to the conduct and demeanour of
an accused person. Failure of the parties to raise such a claim, during trial, did not
debar the Court from forming an opinion on its own regarding the capability of an
accused person to face the proceedings of trial. In such a situation, the Court may
rely on its own observations regarding the demeanor and conduct of the accused
either before or at the time of taking a plea against the charge or at any later stage.
The Court may take note whether he/she was being represented by Counsel or not
and consider the material (if any) available on record which may persuade it to
enquire into the capability of the accused to face trial. The Court may assess the
mental health condition of an accused by asking him/her questions such as why
he/she was attending the Court; whether he/she was able to understand the
proceedings which were being conducted (trial); whether he/she was able to
understand the role of people who were a part of the trial; the basic procedure may
be explained to him/her to assess whether he/she was able to understand such
procedure and whether he/she was able to retain information imparted to him/her;
whether the accused was able to understand the act committed by him/her and what
選擇目標文字3
連接到段落
連接到實體
取消高亮顯示
新增到目錄