Recorded examination-in-chief can support Section 319 CrPC action; prior cross-examination is not required before adding an accused.

A recorded examination-in-chief deposition can constitute "evidence" for action under Section 319 CrPC if it provides a prima facie basis to proceed against a person not yet arraigned. The provision does not require the proposed accused to be first summoned for cross-examination before the court decides whether to add him as an accused. Once the statement is recorded, it forms part of the evidence before the court, and its truth may be tested later after impleadment. The proposed accused therefore has no right to insist on prior cross-examination as a condition precedent to being added under Section 319.

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Issues: Whether a statement recorded in examination-in-chief, before cross-examination, constitutes "evidence" for the purpose of exercising power to proceed against other persons under Section 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Analysis: The power under Section 319 is exercisable when, in the course of inquiry or trial, it appears from the evidence that a person not already arraigned has committed an offence for which he can be tried with the accused. The provision does not contemplate an additional stage of first summoning the proposed accused and then allowing cross-examination before the court decides whether to proceed against him. Section 3 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 defines evidence to include statements made by witnesses before the court, and once a deposition is recorded it forms part of the evidence available to the court, though its truth may later be tested by cross-examination after the person is added as an accused. The court may therefore act on such material if it affords a prima facie basis for proceeding under Section 319.

Conclusion: The statement recorded before cross-examination can constitute evidence for the purpose of Section 319, and the proposed accused has no right to insist on cross-examination before being added as an accused.

Ratio Decidendi: For Section 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, evidence includes recorded deposition that furnishes a prima facie basis for action, and prior cross-examination of the proposed accused is not a condition precedent to summoning him.

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