Framing of Issues and Charges
What is tested
The judicial act of narrowing the controversy: what is an issue, what is a charge, and what follows when the wrong one is framed.
Issues under the CPC
- Order XIV Rule 1(1): an issue arises where a material proposition of fact or law is affirmed by one party and denied by the other; Rule 1(3) classifies issues as of fact, of law or mixed.
- Order XIV Rule 2: the court examines pleadings and documents, strikes out issues on which no relief depends, and decides an issue of law alone at once.
- Rule 3 lists the materials - allegations, admissions, documents, statements under Order X.
- Rule 5 permits amendment or addition of issues at any time before the decree.
- No issue can be raised on an admitted fact.
Charges under the BNSS
- The charge states the offence, the section and the particulars of time, place, person and property, so as to give clear notice to the accused.
- Separate charges for distinct offences, with the recognised exceptions for three offences of the same kind within a year and for offences in the same transaction.
- On alteration, the charge must be re-read and explained; the court then decides whether to continue or retry.
- A defect in the charge does not vitiate the trial unless it occasioned a failure of justice.
Worked example
In a suit for declaration that a sale deed is void and for injunction, 'whether the plaintiff has title' and 'whether the sale deed was executed for consideration' are issues. 'Whether the suit is maintainable' is not, unless a specific legal bar such as limitation, section 80 or jurisdiction is pleaded. Striking out the vague issue prevents a remand later.
Traps
- Framing issues on admitted facts.
- Not recording that the charge was read and explained to the accused.
- Altering a charge after evidence closes without asking whether the accused needs time.