Examination of Accused During Trial (section 313 of Criminal Procedure, 1973 )

This article will scrutinize Sec 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 which talks about accused person examination.
The section is based upon the natural justice principle and made for the purpose of enabling the accused personally to explain circumstances appearing in the evidence against him.

Recently the Supreme Court in Reena Hazarika v. the State of Assam, 2018 SCC OnLine SC 2281, decided on 31-10-2018 held that Section 313 cannot be seen simply as part of Audi alteram partem. It confers a valuable right upon an accused to establish his innocence and can well be considered beyond a statutory right as a constitutional right to a fair trial under Article 21 of the Constitution, even if it is not to be considered as a piece of substantive evidence, not being on oath under Section 313 (2).

As per section 313(1)(a) -  The court may examine the accused at any stage of the trial and put necessary questions to the accused without warning.

As per section 313(1)(b) -  The court shall examine the accused after examination of the prosecution witness and before furnishing defense evidence.

The section provides, personal examination of the accused. Hence the lawyer of the accused cannot represent him during the examination.
In Basavaraj Patil v. State of collector - the court held that as a general rule it was mandatory for an accused to be personally present in the court under s.313. But if personal appearance creates hardship and is impossible then exceptions can be granted.

For such exceptions, the accused must have to file an affidavit by himself seeking permission and stating justifiable reasons for nonphysical presence.

No oath is taken by the accused during the S.313 examinations.

No particular format in which the questions may be posed by the court to an accused under this section. However, arbitrary, vague, and complex questions cannot be posed to the accused.

Questions of an accused shall be in such a manner that the questions and associated answers are recorded separately.

If there is more than one accused in a case, the statement of co-accused under section 313 cannot be used against another.

Recently the bench of NV Ramana, CJ, and Aniruddha Bose, J  in  Satbir Singh vs The State Of Haryana on 28 May 2021  held that   "Trial Courts record the statement of an accused under Section 313, CrPC in a very casual and cursory manner, without specifically questioning the accused as to his defense. It ought to be noted that the examination of an accused under Section 313, CrPC cannot be treated as a mere procedural formality, as it is based on the fundamental principle of fairness. This provision incorporates the valuable principle of natural justice­ “Audi alteram partem”, as it enables the accused to offer an explanation for the incriminatory material appearing against him. Therefore, it imposes an obligation on the part of the Court to question the accused fairly, with care and caution".

Also, the accused should not be convicted solely based on the explanation provided before the court under section 313 , because the statement is not a substantive piece of evidence and it is not based on an oath and there is no cross-examination on such statements.

The statement made under section 313 has no evidentiary value under section 3 of the Indian Evidence  Act.