Question

Which provision under the Criminal Procedure Code reflects the principle of autrefois acquit/autrefois convict

• A. Sec.300
• B. Sec.305
• C. Sec.306
• D. Sec.311

Hint:

Remember the distinction between the constitutional protection in Article 20(2) and the statutory protection in Section 300 CrPC. Section 300 is broader. Article 20(2) only protects against trial and punishment for the same offence twice, whereas Section 300 also includes protection after an acquittal and covers different offences arising from the same facts.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

The maxims autrefois acquit and autrefois convict both mean the same person cannot face a second trial for an offence already decided.

1. Sec.305 and Sec.306: These deal with corporate representation and pardons to accomplices respectively, unconnected to a second trial.
2. Sec.311: This is about the court's power to summon witnesses, again unconnected.
3. Sec.300: This is the provision barring a person, once tried and convicted or acquitted, from being tried again for the same offence or the same facts, matching the maxims exactly.

Since only one provision addresses re-trial after a prior conviction or acquittal, the correct answer is Sec.300.

Answer 2

This question can also be approached by first recalling the constitutional root of the principle and then finding its statutory counterpart.

1. Constitutional basis: Article 20(2) of the Constitution protects a person from being prosecuted and punished more than once for the same offence, but that protection is narrower, it applies only where there has been a prior punishment.
2. Sec.300 CrPC: The statutory provision goes further than the constitutional guarantee, barring not just a second trial for the very same offence but also a trial for a different offence based on the same facts, whenever the person has already been convicted or acquitted. This broader statutory embodiment is what corresponds to the common law maxims autrefois acquit and autrefois convict.
3. Sec.305, Sec.306, Sec.311: None of these provisions touch upon repeat trials at all, so they cannot be the statutory expression of these maxims.

Tracing the principle from its constitutional root to its fuller statutory expression leads to the same provision.

Therefore, the correct answer is Sec.300.