In Brief
A victim-witness (Manjeet Singh) challenged the rejection of his application to summon additional accused in a murder case where they were named in the FIR but exonerated during investigation. The Supreme Court held that trial courts can summon persons as additional accused under Section 319 CrPC even on examination-in-chief evidence alone, without waiting for cross-examination. The court need only find prima facie evidence of their involvement, not form opinions on guilt. The High Court wrongly appreciated evidence on merits at the summoning stage. Since the accused were specifically named in the FIR and the injured eyewitness identified them with particular roles, the court allowed the appeal and directed their summons.
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