‘Criminal Pre-Trial Preparation: Introduction: Investigation of a crime is what proceeds the trial. In fact, criminal pretrialstarts from the moment information con- cerning an offence is giveneither to the Police Station or the Magistrate. On receiving informationabout a cogniz~ able offence, police register a First Information Report(FIR) and commences investigation. If the investigation agency feels thatprima facie case face is made out of it, it will fle a charge sheet before the court. The Magistrate has to pass necessary orders on final reportsand charge sheets depending upon the order of the Magistrate and thecase will either be dropped or put forward for charges and trial. In criminal trials, personal liberty of a person is at stake, justice is mademore important as it may cause death or im- prisonment to somebody.When a person contacts the advocate, itis very important to considerthe following aspects: 1. With what reference is the person approaching the advocate? 2. At what stage is the matter? 3. Whether the person who has approached is an accused or a victim or relative of accused or victim? 4, Whether the person is approaching for bail or advice or representation during investigation and trial? ‘Stages Before Trial: ‘Stage 1: Commission of offence The act of doing or perpetuating an offence is called commission of anoffence. For offence, there must be an act with guilty intention. Thefundamental principles of criminal law is embodied in the principle‘Actus non facitreum, nisi mens sit rea’ which means that an act alonecannot make a person legally liable unless the mind is legallyblameworthy. Stage 2: FIR This term has not been defined or used in the Code but is commonlyused in practice. An FIR means the informa- tion by whomsoever inrelation to the commission of the crime (cognizable offence) and whichis first in point of time and on the basis of which the investigation intothat offence is commenced. The principle object of filing of an FIR fromthe point of view of the informant is to set the criminal law in motion. The object will be defeated if the officer in charge of a police station refuses to record the information. In such a situation, the substance of such information in writing can be sent to the Superintendent of Police. If the SP is satisfied that the information discloses a cognizable offence, he shalleither investigate the case himself or direct an investigation tobe made by a subordinate officer.Section 154 of the Code incorporatesthe provision regarding the FIR. However, theSection only applies whereinfor- mation regarding a cognizable offence is given to the officer-in chargeof the Police Station. Section 190 empowers the Magistrate totake cognizance of the offence upon receiving a complaint or uponreceiving a police report. Stage 3: Investigation ‘There are three stages through which an offence passes: 1.Investigation 2.Inquiry 3.Trial Out of the three, investigation is performed by the Police. Police is the Chief Investigative Agency of the State. Ad- ministratively, Police isindependent of Directorate of Prosecution and the Judiciary. As aprinciple, itis said that the Court does not possess any supervisoryjurisdiction over Police and their investigation. There is a clear cut andwell- known demarcated sphere of activity for the Police in crime detection. Section 2(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure defines investigation as‘investigation includes all proceedings un- der the Code for examplecollection of evidence conducted by a police officer or by any otherperson (other than Magistrate) who is authorized by the Magistrate inthis regard”. Stage 4: Framing of Charges and Filing of Chargesheet The next stage is to frame the charges and file the chargesheet.Section 2(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure de- fines charge as “chargeincludes any head of charge when charge contains more heads thanone”. The object is to enable the accused to know the details of accusationslevelled against him or her and also that the. defense can be ready todefend himself or herself during trial.On completion of the investigation, the investigating officer shallprepare a report and shall forward the same to the Magistrateempowered to take cognizance of the of- fence. The report must containthe particulars mentioned in section 173 of the Criminal ProcedureCode. This final report is referred to as the Chargesheet After the Chargesheet is filed, the next stage is the trial of the case bythe Magistrate or by the Court of sessions. However, the other important aspects which need to be consideredeither before or during the investigation are: 1.Arrest 2.Bail After the filing of the charge sheet, the trial commences. The followingare the two stages after filing of chargesheet: Plea of Guilty: Section 241 of the Code of Criminal Procedure talks about the plea ofguilty. After framing charges, the accused is given an opportunity toplead guilty. If he pleads guilty, then there is no trial. However, itis theresponsibility of the judge to ensure that the plea of guilt was madevoluntarily and not forcibly. The judge may, upon his direction, con- victthe accused.Prosecution Evidencelf the accused pleads guilty, then, the court requires the prosecution topro- duce the evidence to prove guilt of the accused. Conclusion: ‘Thus, the pre-trial preparation must be conducted in the mannermentioned above to ensure a proper trial and also to ensure properframing of charges so that no problem is caused to either prosecution ordefence.