CRPC-Section 313 : Apex Court - 10 guidelines framed in case of Criminal Appeal No. 211 of 2023 decided on 3rd March 2023 in case title Premchand Vs The state of Maharashtra

The Supreme Court of India in Criminal Appeal No. 211 of 2023 decided on 3^rd March 2023 in case title Premchand Vs The state of Maharashtra setting aside the conviction of the accused who was convicted by the Trial Court in 2003 for offenses under Section 302, 307 read with Section 120B of the Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC'), a sentence of life imprisonment and rigorous imprisonment for 7 years and confirmed by the High Court, Division Bench for being vitiated and directed the State to set him at liberty for being vitiated and directed the State to set him at liberty.
· The Apex Court while referring to the following of its previous judgments formulated 10 guidelines:-PARA 15.

section 313, Cr. P.C. [clause (b) of sub-section 1] is a valuable safeguard in the trial process for the accused to establish his innocence.
section 313, which is intended to ensure a direct dialogue between the court and the accused, casts a mandatory duty on the court to question the accused generally on the case for the purpose of enabling him to personally explain any circumstances appearing in the evidence against him;
when questioned, the accused may not admit his involvement at all and choose to flatly deny or outrightly repudiate whatever is put to him by the court;
the accused may even admit or own incriminating circumstances adduced against him to adopt legally recognized defences;
an accused can make a statement without fear of being cross-examined by the prosecution or the latter having any right to cross-examine him;
the explanations that an accused may furnish cannot be considered in isolation but has to be considered in conjunction with the evidence adduced by the prosecution and, 1 (1998) 4 SCC 336 2 (2010) 8 SCC 249 3 (2019) 13 SCC 289 4 (2020) 8 SCC 811 5 (2001) 10 SCC 103 5 therefore, no conviction can be premised solely on the basis of the section 313 statement(s);
statements of the accused in course of examination undersection 313, since not on oath, do not constitute evidence under section 3 of the Evidence Act, yet the answers given are relevant for finding the truth and examining the veracity of the prosecution case;
statement(s) of the accused cannot be dissected to rely on the inculpatory part and ignore the exculpatory part and has/have to be read in the whole, inter alia, to test the authenticity of the exculpatory nature of admission; and
if the accused takes a defence and proffers any alternate version of events or interpretation, the court has to carefully analyze and consider his statements;
any failure to consider the accused’s explanation of incriminating circumstances, in a given case, may vitiate the trial and/or endanger the conviction.