- In K.B. Rasheed v. State of Kerala, the Kerala High Court held that the prosecution should not violate the provisions laid down u/s 279 and 281 CrPC which talks about interpretation of evidence against the accused in the language which they understand.
- The Court also observed that non-compliance with sections 279 or 281 does not vitiate the trial altogether unless some sort of prejudice is caused to the accused.
- In this case the appellant accused was convicted u/s 20(b)(ii)(B) of the NDPS Act by a Special Court.
- Subsequently, an appeal was filed in the Hon'ble High Court challenging this decision on the ground that section 279 and 281 CrPC were violated.
- The Counsel for the appellant contended that in none of the stages of the trial, the accused was informed of the proceedings in his own language which is Kannada.
- The Counsel further argued that various proceedings were not interpreted to the accused violating his right u/s 279 and 281 of CrPC.
- The Court observed that there is no doubt that during the trial, the accused was deprived of the interpretation of the evidence adduced against him.
- The Court also observed that throughout the proceedings, the accused was represented by a counsel and neither of them pointed out this fact before the Special Court at any stage of the trial.
- The Court took reliance on the Supreme Court's Judgement in Shivanarayan Kabra v. State of Madras, 1967 where it was held that non-compliance with section 279 and 281 does not render the prosecution invalid.
- The Ld. Court upheld the decision of the Special Court for conviction of accused under the NDPS Act.
- Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed.
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