A close relative has been falsely implicated by the Police in West Bengal. It is a summons State case and filed on Police Report and presently in Trial Court. However, the main complainant (who was also a Police SI himself and is now retired) on whose complaint the case was filed by police, has not bothered to come to court after case was filed for 10 long years, in spite of repeated summons. Neither has he ever submitted any excuse petition. Consequently the judge has closed his evidence.
Now just when the accused was about to submit a stop proceedings application under Sec 258 as suggested by one lawyer in this forum, the prosecution brought one witness in the case for cross examination.
Now my questions are:
1. Can main and only complainant walk in to court now and ask for reopening of his evidence? If not here, then can he do that in a higher court?
2. Without cross examining this complainant by accused as mandated by Section 33 of Evidence Act, does this case have any merit. Then does bringing forth witnesses, without the complainant for evidence/cross examination, serve any purpose?
3. Can the accused now still ask for stoppage and discharge/acquital of accused (citing no evidence in the absence of cross examination of complainant and by pointing out many lies/defects in the charge sheet itself) under Sec 258?
