- In Soni Anil Kumar Prahladbhai v. State of Gujarat, the Gujarat High Court held that an accused can be considered a competent witness if he makes a written request to the concerned court under Section 315 CrPC.
- The Hon'ble Court dismissed a petition challenging the order of the Sessions Court that rejected the application filed by the petitioner for being treated as a witness even in absence of a written request.
- In this case, a petition was filed under Article 226 of the Constitution seeking stay on proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act against the petitioner accused.
- The Court noted that Section 315 of CrPC entitles an accused person to be a competent witness, in case such accused makes a request in writing to the concerned Court.
- As in the present case, there was no such written request made by the petitioner to the concerned Court and he instead filed an application, submitting examination-in-chief.
- The petitioner argued that shortly after the recording of further statements under Sec 313 of CrPC before the Civil Judge ended, he filed an application tendering his examination-in-chief which was rejected by the Principal Civil Judge.
- Thereafter, the Petitioner filed a criminal revision application in the Sessions Court but this was again rejected.
- Subsequently, the Petitioner accused filed the present petition before the Hon'ble High Court.
- According to the petitioner, the Court had made an error in dismissing his application and failed to appreciate the provisions of section 145 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.
- Furthermore, the petitioner argued that section 315 of CrPC allows an accused to become a competent witness for himself. To support the argument, reliance was placed on Rakeshbhai Maganbhai Barot v. State of Gujarat.
- The Court noted that in order to be treated as a witness, the accused has to file a written request to the concerned Court. The accused had not done so, as is clear from the examination-in-chief, and therefore, the trial Court has not erred in rejecting the petitioner's examination-in-chief.
- Accordingly, the Ld. Court dismissed the present petition.
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