Section 258: Judgement of acquittal or conviction
Section 258 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 outlines the procedures and requirements for delivering judgments in criminal cases, playing a vital role in ensuring prompt and efficient justice, as well as upholding the integrity of the judicial process.
After the culmination of arguments and deliberation over other relevant legal issues, the judgment of the said case must be delivered by the judge as early as possible. The judgment must be pronounced within 30 days from the conclusion of arguments over the said case.
If the judge believes that this time period needs to be extended further, then up to 45 days can be granted. But in such an event, he has to state his reasons in writing and that too with cogent reasons why the delay had occurred.
The decision given by the judge will result in either the acquittal of the accused or the conviction.
-If the accused is acquitted, it means that the court has found there is not enough evidence to convict and the accused is released from the charges.
-If the trial concludes with a guilty verdict, then the judgment is that there was sufficient evidence before the court to prove the charges. The judge should conduct a specific hearing on the issue of the sentence that the accused should be given unless subsection 401 (special provisions for sentencing) applies.
Under any conviction, the court should give the accused an opportunity to make presentation of any circumstances or other factors that may be put before the court in mitigation to the sentence. Thus, the question of sentence in this case will consider all circumstances that may arise affecting the penalty according to the proper necessity, such as the accused's background, previous offenses, or even possible rehabilitation.
