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"(b) "charge" includes any head of charge when the charge contains more heads than one."

A Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court in a judgment reported in SUNEEL KUMAR SINGH v. STATE OF U.P.3 has held as follows:

"44. In view of the aforesaid definition the 'end' for which a plan or project is carried out is called prosecution. In respect of proviso to Section 24(8) Cr.P.C. prosecution in respect of an offence begin with putting the law into motion by any individual or sufferer of crime. The 'end' in a prosecution within the meaning of proviso to sub-section 8 of section 24 Cr.P.C. would be adjudication of guilt of an offender who is charged with commission of an offence in accordance with procedure established by law in a court constituted under this code. So the prosecution starts with giving information of commission of crime and continued during investigation or inquiry, trial of offender and if any appeal is filed finally end by an order passed in appeal. This whole process is the part of fair trial inbuilt in Article 21 of our Constitution. The word prosecution is also used in different sense in different situation. When word 'prosecution' is used in defining the parties to criminal case it is used for the party who is siding the victim. When it used in respect of an accused means pending proceeding to ascertain the guilt of the accused. When an offence is committed it certainly 2019 SCC OnLine All 957 committed against the society but the sufferer is called victim. Victim has direct nexus with the damage caused to him but society may have a remote effect. The legislature for the first time insert provision for protection of the right of victim in the Criminal Procedure Code and specially keeping in view being the worst sufferer of crime. Thus, the victim should not be kept aloof from the judicial process in which the wrongdoers is undergoing the process of ascertainment of his guilt for wrong committed by him. In this judicial process, by means of amendment made by Act No. 5 of 2008, the status of the victim has been improved from a silent expectator of proceeding before the court to a participant of the proceeding. Therefore the word used in the proviso added to Section 24(8) Cr.P.C. is to 'assist the prosecution' and not to assist the 'public prosecutor'. Therefore there is basic difference in between proviso to Section 24(8) and Section 301 Cr.P.C. It is true that section 301 Cr.P.C. has not been amended by Act No. 5 of 2008 but if the principals of harmonies construction is applied while interpreting the different provision of same statute like proviso to section 24(8) and Section 301 Cr.P.C., the letter and spirit inducted in proviso added to sub-Section 8 of Section 24 of the Cr.P.C. cannot be diluted by saying that no amendment has been incorporated in Section 301 Cr.P.C."

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71. On a consideration of the above said principles and after analysing the provisions vis-a-vis the various judgments, the following conclusions are arrived at:

i. Section 301, Cr.P.C. is not a bar for entertaining an Application to intervene in an Application filed under Section 437 or 438, Cr.P.C.
ii. Section 301 and Proviso under Section 24(8) are mutually complimentary and not conflicting with each other and therefore, there is no bar for engaging a lawyer to assist the prosecution. iii. The discretion of the Court in invoking Proviso under Section 24(8) is a judicial discretion. iv. The judicial discretion of the Court will have to be exercised keeping in mind the objects and reasons for the introduction of Proviso to Section 24(8) which is to provide an adequate opportunity to the victim to take part in the Criminal proceeding. v. Engaging a lawyer in accordance with Proviso under Section 24(8) would mean permitting him to argue along with the Public Prosecutor and also in a given case even to examine a witness, of- course with the permission of the Court.