Cross-examination cannot be ignored before summoning an additional accused, Supreme Court holds

27 October 2026

The Supreme Court has held that a trial court must consider a witness's full deposition, including the cross-examination, before summoning an additional accused under Section 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, now Section 358 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. The case was Neelam Yadav v. State of U.P. and a Bench of Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh decided it. The appellant had been arraigned as an additional accused in a murder case on the strength of the examination-in-chief of one prosecution witness, while two other witnesses turned hostile. The Court said that at this stage the trial court does not weigh evidence on probabilities, but if the cross-examination demolishes the chief statement on which the summons rests, the court cannot overlook it. The orders of the trial court and the High Court were set aside, and the trial court was left free to consider the request afresh in accordance with law.