In Brief
A long-pending fraud and corruption case (filed in 1983) involved the prosecution's repeated failure to produce a handwriting expert witness over 13 years despite multiple court orders. After the defense closed its case, the prosecution sought to examine the witness again. The Supreme Court held that Section 311 CrPC's power to summon witnesses must be exercised cautiously in the interest of justice. Where prosecution evidence is closed, reasons for non-examination are unsatisfactory, and repeated attempts to produce the witness have failed, summoning at a belated stage causes prejudice to the accused and constitutes an abuse of process. The Court allowed the appeal, quashed the trial and High Court orders, and dismissed the prosecution's application to summon the witness.
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