In Brief
Bihari Lal challenged the discharge of three accused from the charge of Attempt to Murder (Section 307 IPC) at the pre-trial stage. The lower courts had discharged the accused, finding no prima facie case based on medical reports. The Supreme Court held that at the charge-framing stage, the court must rely on a mere perusal of prosecution documents without scrutinizing their consistency or apparent faults. Detailed evaluation of evidence occurs only during trial. Since the medical reports prima facie indicated an Attempt to Murder case, the discharge was improper. The Court set aside the orders and directed the trial court to frame charges under Section 307 IPC against the accused.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.