A person can be made an accused by the trial court in case evidence crops up during the proceedings even if he has not been named in the FIR or a charge sheet, said a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Friday.
The bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam said that under Section 319 of Criminal Procedure Code, a trial court is empowered to proceed against a person who appears to be guilty of offence, but is not named in the FIR or the charge sheet.
The judgement could have implications in some cases arising out of the 2G scam in which the trial judge had summoned as accused some corporate honchos despite them not being named by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the FIR and chargesheet.
The apex court is yet to pronounce its verdict in the case.
