Can I produce pendrive at the advance stage of trial? I want to prove that the prosecutrix herself involved in sexual relations with me out of her free consent. In the trial the prosecution witness and a few defence witnesses have examined. At the later stage I wanted to produce a pendrive containing some videos and call recordings to prove that she also expressed her desire to have sex with me. We are studying in the same college and she is a junior to me. She wanted to establish physical relations hence, she made friendship and exchanged a lot of vulgar messages on whatsapp. However, I have no evidence to prove those vulgar messages because my mobile phone was lost. But during the sex she expressed some significant remarks to me and also showed fulfilment of her lust.
At several occasions she recognised those sexual activities and showed that she was very happy and wanted to do the same again. When my advocate submitted that pen drive in the court, it has been rejected that it cannot be admitted at this stage. Now my advocate wanted to challenge the order in high court. What would be the possibility of a proposed appeal?
Asked from: Uttar Pradesh
Upon perusal of the facts, it appears that the contents of the pen drive in question are materially relevant to your defence. If you are able to establish the authenticity and genuineness of the said evidence, it is likely to exonerate you from the alleged offence.
Section 294 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, permits both the prosecution and the defence to adduce documentary evidence without the necessity of formal proof, provided the genuineness of such documents is not disputed by the opposing party. Importantly, this provision can be invoked at any stage of the trial.
At this juncture, it is crucial to demonstrate that the proposed evidence is relevant and necessary for just adjudication. The trial court cannot summarily reject the application for production of additional evidence solely on the ground that it has been filed at an advanced stage of the proceedings. Such a rejection would amount to a misapplication of Section 294 CrPC.
In light of the above, you are advised to file a petition under Section 482 of the CrPC before the Hon’ble High Court, seeking quashing of the trial court’s order rejecting your application for bringing additional evidence on record.
Alternatively, if the trial is being conducted under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, you may prefer an appeal before the High Court under the appropriate provision of the said Act.
The impugned order of the trial court is prima facie unsustainable in law and is liable to be set aside for being in contravention of the provisions of Section 294 CrPC. You can produce pen drive even at the advance stage of trial.
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