Legal provisions regarding language and contents of judgment under section 354 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
(1) Except as otherwise expressly provided by the Code of Criminal Procedure, every judgment referred to in Section 353;
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(a) Shall be written in the language of the Court. According to Section 272 of the Code, the State Government may determine what shall be, for the purposes of this Code, the language of each Court within the State other than the High Court;
(b) Shall contain the point or points for determination, the decision thereon and the reasons for the decision;
(c) Shall specify the offence (if any) of which, and the section of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 or other law under which, the accused is convicted, and the punishment to which he is sentenced;
(d) If it be a judgment of acquittal, shall state the offence of which the accused is acquitted and direct that he be set at liberty.
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(2) When the conviction is under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and it is doubtful under which of two sections, or under which of two parts of the same section, of that Code the offence falls, the Court shall distinctly express the same, and pass judgment in the alternative.
(3) When the conviction is for an offence punishable with death or, in the alternative, with imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term of years, the judgment shall state the reasons for the sentence awarded and, in the case of sentence of death, the special reasons for such sentence.
(4) When the conviction is for an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term of one year or more, but the Court imposes a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than three months, it shall record its reasons for awarding such sentence, unless the sentence is one of imprisonment till the rising of the Court or unless the case was tried summarily under the provisions of this Code.
(5) When any person is sentenced to death, the sentence shall direct that he be hanged by the neck till he is dead.
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(6) Every order under Section 117 or sub-section (2) -of Section 138 and every final order made under Section 125, Section 145 or Section 147 shall contain the point or points for determination, the decision thereon and the reason for the decision.
Generally, the judgment in a criminal case commences with a statement of facts in respect of which the accused person is charged. The judgment indicates a careful analysis and appraisal of the evidence while reaching the conclusions regarding the proof of the facts. A considered judgment should clearly mention in the judgment the reasons for accepting one and rejecting the other of the two viewpoints of the parties.
In State of M.P. v. Kashiram & Others, it was observed that punishment to be awarded for a crime must not be irrelevant. It should conform to and be consistent with the atrocity and brutality with which the crime has been perpetrated, the enormity of the crime warranting public abhorrence and it should respond to the society’s cry for justice against the criminal.
