Paragraph numbers below are the court’s original numbering, recovered from the source text.
9. The presumption of innocence is the general law of the land as every man is presumed to be innocent unless proven to be guilty. Alternatively, certain statutory presumptions in relation to certain class of offences have been raised against the accused whereby the presumption of guilt prevails till the accused discharges his burden upon an onus being cast upon him under the law to prove himself to be innocent. These competing theories have been kept in mind by the legislature. The entire effort, therefore, is not to allow the real perpetrator of an offence to get away unpunished. This is also a part of fair trial and in our opinion, in order to achieve this very end that the legislature thought of incorporating provisions of Section 319 CrPC. It is with the said object in mind that a constructive and purposive interpretation should be adopted that advances the cause of justice and does not dilute the intention of the statute conferring powers on the Court to carry out the abovementioned avowed object and purpose to try the person to the satisfaction of the Court [2025] 6 S.C.R. Harjinder Singh v. The State of Punjab & Anr. as an accomplice in the commission of the offence that is the subject-matter of trial.”
10. Hence, in our considered opinion, the power under Section 319 CrPC is triggered not by conjecture but by “evidence” that surfaces in Court. In the present case, narrated in detail how, on the morning of 10 May 2016, respondent no. 2, together with others, stopped a car, confronted the deceased and, in the Punjabi vernacular, told him that he and his family ought to drown themselves for failing to retaliate. PW1 further described the immediate impact of those words: the deceased broke down, secluded himself, and a few hours later left home never to return alive.
11. The primary argument of Respondent no. 2 rests on his alibi. An alibi, however, is a plea in the nature of a defence; the burden to establish it rests squarely on the accused. Here, the documents relied upon, parking chit, chemist’s receipt, OPD card, CCTV clip, have yet to be formally proved. Until that exercise is undertaken, they remain untested pieces of paper. To treat them as conclusive at the threshold would invert the established order of criminal proceedings, requiring the Court to pronounce upon a defence before the prosecution is allowed to lead its full evidence. Even assuming the documents will eventually be proved, their face value does not eclipse the prosecution version. The parking slip is timed at 06:30 a.m.; the chemist’s bill and CCTV images are from 12:09 p.m. The confrontation is alleged at 08:30 a.m. A road journey from Jagowal to Chandigarh of roughly ninety kilometres in a private vehicle can comfortably be accomplished within the intervening window. More importantly, abetment to suicide is not an offence committed at a single moment. It may consist of a buildup of psychological pressure culminating in selfdestruction, and the law punishes that buildup wherever and whenever it occurs.
12. Learned counsel for the respondents urged that the police, having once accepted the alibi, were the best judges of its authenticity and that their conclusion should not be lightly brushed aside. The submission overlooks the scheme of the CrPC. Once cognizance is taken and trial commences, the investigating agency’s view yields to the Court’s independent assessment. If, in the midst of that trial, evidence implicating a new participant surfaces, the Court is dutybound to act on it. Section 319 CrPC would be rendered otiose 178 if an Investigating Officer’s earlier opinion could freeze the array of accused for all time.
13. It was next argued that PW1’s deposition merely reproduces the FIR. We are unable to agree. A first information report is only an initial version; a statement under oath, recorded in Court, is substantive evidence. Indeed, it is difficult to conceive of what stronger material could be demanded at the summoning stage short of a confession. The threshold is not proof beyond reasonable doubt; it is the appearance of involvement which is apparent from evidence adduced in the proceeding. That threshold was satisfied here.
14. We believe that the High Court, in interfering under Section 482 CrPC, placed decisive reliance on the investigation dossier and characterised the 10 May 2016 episode as mere “teasing”. Such a description underplays both the content and the effect of the words spoken. If the allegations is true, telling a physically challenged man that he and his family should die, and doing so in the immediate aftermath of a grievous acid attack, is not banter. Sensitivity to the social context, where honour and shame weigh heavily, was called for. The offence, no doubt, will have to be established at the trial. The Trial Court will also decide whether on facts the offence is established, keeping in view the law laid down by this Court in Mahendra Awase vs. State of Madhya Pradesh2 and other judgments interpreting Section 306 IPC.
15. Having regard to the purpose of Section 319 CrPC, we see no infirmity in the order of the Trial Court. On the contrary, nonsummoning of respondent no. 2 would have risked a truncated trial and a possible failure of justice. The High Court, by elevating unproved defence documents above sworn testimony, adopted an approach that was neither consistent with the text of Section 319 CrPC nor consonant with the realities of a case involving a vulnerable victim. The Court’s intervention, in effect, foreclosed the prosecution from testing the alibi and deprived the Trial Court of jurisdiction expressly conferred upon it.
16. For the reasons recorded above, the appeal succeeds and is allowed. The judgment and order dated 21 November 2023 passed by the 2025 SCC OnLine SC 107 [2025] 6 S.C.R. Harjinder Singh v. The State of Punjab & Anr. High Court of Punjab and Haryana in CRM-M No. 31120 of 2022 is set aside.
17. The order of the Trial Court dated 04 July 2022 summoning respondent no. 2 to stand trial for the offence punishable under Section 306 IPC shall stand revived. Respondent no. 2 shall appear before the Trial Court within four weeks from today and thereafter abide by all further orders of the Trial Court. It will be open to the Trial Court to regulate the conditions of his release, if any application for bail is moved, in accordance with law.
18. All observations made herein are confined to the present adjudication under Section 319 CrPC and shall not influence the final appreciation of evidence by the Trial Court.
19. Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of. Result of the case: Appeal allowed. †Headnotes prepared by: Ankit Gyan