original records, amounts to violation of applicant’s right and remedies under law. The law does not envisage the situation, where a person accused of an offence, has to argue on charge in a 22 years old case, without aid of crucial and pertinent documents. Learned Senior Counsel submitted that compelling the applicant to face trial in 22 years old case without allowing him to seek recourse to all other legal remedies available under law, violates right to free and fair trial enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. In a 22 year old trial, the legal recourse by an accused is heavily dependent on documentary evidence, which in this case, has been either purposely or inadvertently not made part of the investigation or charge-sheet. If crucial and pertinent documents are non-existent in a criminal trial, the same clearly strikes at the root of trial and would render further proceedings to be against the interest of justice and equity. It was submitted that in compliance of order dated 12.03.2023, passed by this Court, the trial court in its order dated 27.07.2023 has observed that no original document is available at the concerned police station and thus, the trial court is proceeding with trial on the basis of certified copies, which were prepared in the absence of original documents. As the prosecution has been started by complainant, the authenticity of the records provided to the applicant is doubtful. Further, the documents available are not clearly legible and it is not clear that on what basis the trial court, without verifying from the original record, has provided the typed copies of documents.
