The criminal law in India is basically governed by three Acts which are-
Indian Penal Code, 1860
Indian Evidence Act, 1872
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

In Superintendent and Remembrancer of Legal Affairs, West Bengal v. Satyen Bhowmick AIR 1981 SCC 917 the Supreme Court was considering the scope of Section 14 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and held that the said provision cannot take away the right of the accused to get copies of statement recorded of witnesses or documents obtained by the police during investigation.

The order framing charge substantially affects one's liberty and it cannot be said that the Court must automatically frame charge without fully adverting to material available on record.

So , at pre-charge stage, the Magistrate is required to take all such evidence as may be produced in support of the prosecution. The Magistrate then considers whether a prima-facie case was made out or grounds exist to connect the accused with the offence from the evidence referred to in Section 244 of the Code. It is true that at this stage he is not required to go into meticulous consideration of evidence and material produced before him but Section 244 definitely mandates a sincere and honest application of mind on the evidence to see if a prima facie case has been made out to frame a charge or not. If prima facie case is made out, he shall frame charge and if there is no legal evidence or the facts do not make out any case at -all, then he has no option but to discharge the accused.

The term ‘discharge’ appears under various sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 [CrPC] such as Sections 227, 239, 245, 249 and 398.

‘Discharge’ is not defined under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and therefore reference is made to Black’s Law Dictionary, which defines discharge as “[t]he opposite of charge; to release, liberate, annul, unburden, disencumber.” In layman’s language, the provision of discharge comes into picture after an investigation into a crime is completed by the prosecuting agency and chargesheet under Section 173 of the CrPC or a complaint under Section 190 of the CrPC, as the case may be, is filed against the accused persons.

Discharge is a stage that comes after the chargesheet is filed, but before the charge is framed by the concerned court against the accused persons. It is a remedy that is granted to the accused person who has been maliciously charge sheeted or against whom there is insufficient evidence to make out the offence as alleged.

Section 227 of the CrPC deals with the power of the Court of Sessions to discharge an accused person, and section 239 of the CrPC deals with the power of the Magistrate to discharge the accused person. In either of the case, the Magistrate/ Sessions Court is bound to record reasons for passing an order or discharge or otherwise. An unreasoned order or a mechanical order rejecting a discharge application is liable to be set aside t a higher court by way of revision. The power of revision is available only with the Sessions Court and the High Court.

We specialize in pre-charge advocacy for individuals and organizations to prevent enforcement action, penalties or charges. This work requires energy, judgment and an excellent working relationship with enforcement and prosecution agencies. Our most successful advocacy is known only to those most affected:

The firm has extensive experience in representing clients in all type of Criminal matters at PAN India level, in all courts including Supreme court of India, High courts. The team comprises of efficient professionals and qualified advocates, who have excellent skills to handle cases of criminal and quasi criminal nature including defamation, white collar crimes, economic offences, insider trading, corporate frauds, market manipulation etc. The team is well equipped to handle critical aspects and consequences that from a part of criminal litigation. The team investigates all angles of a case and offer ideal solutions to ensure a fair trial .the firm offers followings services in the field of criminal law.

Bail

• Regular bail

• Anticipatory bail

• Appeal in high court and supreme court

Fir & complaints:

• Drafting and Filing of complaints before the police or magistrate/ Court

• Filing of First Information Reports (FIRs)

• Quashing of FIRs and criminal complaints under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure

Appeal & revision

• Criminal Appeal

• Criminal Revision

• Appeal before the Hon’ble High Courts and the Hon’ble Supreme court of India Offences under other criminal laws:

• Prevention of Money Laundering Act;

• Prevention of corruption Act,1988

• Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act

• Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Act,1976

• Juvenile Justice act, 2000

• Narcotics & Drug violations barred by the Narcotics, Drugs &Psychotropic Substances Act ,1985

• Immoral traffic ( Prevention) Act 1956

• Arms Act ,1959

• Electricity Theft under Electricity Act ,2003

• Maintenance claims under section 125 of cr.P.C

• Contempt ofCourts Act ,1971

• NIA Act , 2008

Banks/ Financial institutions frauds:

• Cheque bounce/Dishonor of cheques

• Criminal proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881

• Misappropriation and siphoning of Funds

Economic offences

• SEBI Act, 1992

• FEMA ,1999

Cyber crimes

• Crimes under under the Information Technology Act 2000

• Online fraudulent financial Transactions

• Cyber stalking