Right of accused to cross examine witness of complainant prior to framing of charge
In Harinarayan G. Bajaj v. State of Maharashtra & Ors. (2010) 11 SCC520, this Court reiterated the legal position stated in Ajoy Kumar Ghose(supra) and held that the right of an accused to cross-examine witnesses produced by the prosecution before framing of a charge against him was a valuable right. It was only through cross-examination that the accused could show to the Court that there was no need for a trial against him and that the denial of the right of cross-examination under Section 244 would amount to denial of an opportunity to the accused to show to the Magistrate that the allegations made against him were groundless and that there was no reason for framing a charge against him.
The following passages are in this regard apposite: "18. This Court has already held that right to cross-examine the witnesses who are examined before framing of the charge is a very precious right because it is only by cross-examination that the accused can show to the Court that there is no need of a trial against him. It is to be seen that before framing of the charge under Section 246, the Magistrate has to form an opinion about there being ground for presuming that the accused
