Allahabad HC Upholds Attempt-To-Murder Charge After Doctor Says Informant’s Thigh Wound Was Caused By A Firearm

The applicant was among the accused named in an FIR alleging, inter alia, that he fired a weapon at the informant during an assault.

After investigation, the applicant and other accused were summoned for offences including Sections 147, 323, 504 and 506 IPC, but not Section 307 IPC.

The opposite party’s first application under Section 216 Cr.P.C. to add Section 307 was rejected as premature; charges were then framed and trial commenced.

After evidence was recorded, including the informant’s testimony and the doctor’s evidence describing a firearm entry wound to the informant’s thigh, a second application under Section 216 Cr.P.C. was allowed and Section 307 IPC was added.

The applicant challenged that order under Section 528 BNSS.

Section 216 Cr.P.C. empowers a court to alter or add to a charge at any time before judgment is pronounced; the alteration must be read and explained to the accused, and the court may adjourn the trial or order a new trial if proceeding immediately would cause prejudice.

The Court stated that prima facie evidence supporting the proposed charge is the relevant requirement for its addition under Section 216 Cr.P.C.

It also held that the availability of this power before judgment means a later application may be considered in light of the stage of the trial.

The trial court’s decision followed evidence recorded after the first application had been rejected as premature.

The doctor attributed the informant’s injury to a firearm and described an entry wound with blackening and a through-and-through track; the informant had also testified that he sustained a firearm injury.

The High Court considered this sufficient prima facie material to support adding Section 307 IPC.

Because Section 216 permits alteration of a charge before judgment, the earlier rejection at an initial stage did not prevent the court from reconsidering the request after evidence had emerged.

It dismissed the application challenging the order dated 4 June 2026.