Kerala HC: S.279, 281 CrPC Violation Doesn't Invalidate Prosecution

Quick Summary

The Kerala High Court has ruled that a failure to comply with Sections 279 and 281 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which concern the interpretation of evidence to the accused in their own language, does not automatically render a prosecution invalid. The court stated that such non-compliance will only vitiate a trial if it causes actual prejudice to the accused. In this specific case, the court upheld a conviction under the NDPS Act, noting that while interpretation issues existed, the accused was represented by counsel who did not raise the objection during the trial.

In K.B. Rasheed v. State of Kerala, the Kerala High Court held that the prosecution should not violate the provisions laid down u/s 279 and 281 CrPC which talks about interpretation of evidence against the accused in the language which they understand.
The Court also observed that non-compliance with sections 279 or 281 does not vitiate the trial altogether unless some sort of prejudice is caused to the accused.
In this case the appellant accused was convicted u/s 20(b)(ii)(B) of the NDPS Act by a Special Court.
Subsequently, an appeal was filed in the Hon'ble High Court challenging this decision on the ground that section 279 and 281 CrPC were violated.
The Counsel for the appellant contended that in none of the stages of the trial, the accused was informed of the proceedings in his own language which is Kannada.
The Counsel further argued that various proceedings were not interpreted to the accused violating his right u/s 279 and 281 of CrPC.
The Court observed that there is no doubt that during the trial, the accused was deprived of the interpretation of the evidence adduced against him.
The Court also observed that throughout the proceedings, the accused was represented by a counsel and neither of them pointed out this fact before the Special Court at any stage of the trial.
The Court took reliance on the Supreme Court's Judgement in Shivanarayan Kabra v. State of Madras, 1967 where it was held that non-compliance with section 279 and 281 does not render the prosecution invalid.
The Ld. Court upheld the decision of the Special Court for conviction of accused under the NDPS Act.
Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed.

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