Mohammad Kaleem v. State of Uttar Pradesh 2026 INSC 251 - S.319 CrPC
Court need not establish guilt or conduct a detailed credibility assessment at Section 319 CrPC stage - Pre-trial scrutiny should not resemble a mini trial.
Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 319 - The power under Section 319 CrPC is extraordinary and should be exercised sparingly. The Court must assess whether the evidence on record, if unrebutted, reasonably indicates the involvement of the proposed accused. Court need not establish guilt or conduct a detailed credibility assessment at this stage - Pre-trial scrutiny should not resemble a mini trial. The law consistently balances caution against undue summoning with the need to ensure that potentially implicated individuals are brought to trial when the record, taken as a whole, reasonably supports it. (Para 9-10) [Context: In this case, the Supreme Court noted that the Trial Court applied an unduly high evidentiary standard at the Section 319 stage by treating contradictions and absence of corroborative records as if it were assessing guilt at a full trial, instead of merely asking whether there is strong and cogent evidence suggesting involvement. ]
Case Info
Basic Case Details
Case name: Mohammad Kaleem v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors.Neutral citation: 2026 INSC 251Coram: Sanjay Karol, J. and Augustine George Masih, J.Judgment date: 17 March 2026 (New Delhi)
Case Law and Citations Referred
The judgment expressly refers to two Supreme Court precedents on Section 319 CrPC:
- Hardeep Singh v. State of Punjab, (2014) 3 SCC 92 – lays down that the power under Section 319 CrPC is extraordinary, to be used sparingly, and requires “strong and cogent” evidence, which is higher than prima facie but below proof beyond reasonable doubt.
- Neeraj Kumar v. State of U.P., 2025 SCC OnLine SC 2639 – reiterates that scrutiny at the Section 319 stage should not become a “mini trial” and that the Court is not to conclusively determine guilt at that stage.
Statutes / Laws Referred
The Court refers to and applies the following provisions:
- Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC)
- Section 307 – Attempt to murder
- Section 302 – Murder
- Section 120‑B – Criminal conspiracy
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC)
- Section 161 – Examination of witnesses by police
- Section 319 – Power to proceed against other persons appearing to be guilty of offence
- Section 482 – High Court’s inherent powers (referred to in context of earlier High Court order: “Application U/S 482 No. 9654 of 2021”)
