LI Network
Published on: 27 August 2023 at 12:11 IST
The Supreme Court has clarified that filing a charge sheet in a language not understood by the accused or not matching the court’s language is not illegal. In such cases, the court can direct the prosecution to provide a translated version of the charge sheet, the apex court observed.
The bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Rajesh Bindal made this observation while addressing an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s decision.
The high court had opined that Hindi was the sole language for criminal courts in the state, and therefore, the accused had the right to demand a translation of the charge sheet into the court’s language. In this instance, the CBI had filed the charge sheet in English.
The court pointed out that the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) does not specifically require the investigating agency or officer to file the charge sheet in the language determined by the court under Section 272 of the CrPC.
“The power under Section 272 is not a power to decide which language shall be used by the investigating agencies or the police for the purposes of maintaining the record of the investigation.
At the highest, for that purpose, the provisions regarding the law governing the Official Language of the State may apply subject to the provisions contained in such enactment.
In a given case, while prescribing a form as required by Subsection (2) of Section 173, the State Government may provide that the charge sheet must be filed in the official language of the State. Therefore, Section 272 deals with only the language of the Courts under CrPC.”
The court also emphasized that even if the requirement to file the charge sheet in the language of the court is read into Section 173, the proceedings wouldn’t be invalidated if the report is in a different language. The test of failure of justice, according to Section 465 of the CrPC, would need to be applied in such cases.
The court elaborated on the circumstances where translation might be necessary, stating:
“When a copy of the report and the documents are supplied to the accused under Section 207 and/or Section 208, an opportunity is available for the accused to contend that he does not understand the language in which the final report or the statements or documents are written. But he must raise this objection at the earliest.
In such a case, if the accused is appearing in person and wants to defend himself without opting for legal aid, perhaps there may be a requirement of supplying a translated version of the charge sheet and documents or the relevant part thereof concerning the said accused to him. It is, however, subject to the accused satisfying the Court that he is unable to understand the language in which the charge sheet is submitted.”
The court also noted that if the accused is represented by a lawyer who comprehends the language of the charge sheet, translation wouldn’t be necessary as the advocate can explain the contents to the accused. But if both the accused and the lawyer are unfamiliar with the language of the charge sheet, the question of providing a translation may arise.
The court concluded that in the instances mentioned, courts can instruct the prosecution to supply a translated version of the charge sheet. However, it noted that a charge sheet filed in a language different from the court’s language or not understood by the accused is not illegal.
Therefore, the lack of a translated charge sheet cannot be used to claim a default bail.
The court also considered central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency, etc., which often investigate serious or wide-ranging offenses.
In these cases, filing the final report in the language of the concerned court, determined by Section 272 of the CrPC, might not always be feasible.