Power to call essential evidence extends through trial, and refusal to summon material witnesses was set aside.

The Court's power to summon material evidence essential to a just decision is wide and may be exercised at any stage of trial. Where a witness had already been examined before charge with an opportunity for cross-examination, the post-charge stage did not prevent the Court from calling further witnesses to prove that the witness could not be traced for continued cross-examination. The refusal to summon the three witnesses was therefore wrong because the limited evidence sought was relevant to the admissibility or weight of material testimony already on record. The revisional challenge succeeded, the refusal was set aside, and the matter was remitted for further proceedings with a direction to record the limited evidence.

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Issues: Whether the Court was bound to summon and examine additional witnesses under the power to call evidence essential to a just decision.

Analysis: The prosecution sought to lead evidence to establish that a witness examined before charge could no longer be traced for further cross-examination after charge. The Court held that the earlier evidence of that witness had already been taken with opportunity for cross-examination, and that the post-charge stage did not prevent the Court from exercising its wide power to summon material evidence. The governing principle was that the Court must itself secure evidence which appears essential for a just decision, and that this duty is not curtailed by the stage of the trial or by the prosecution's failure to secure attendance on its own.

Conclusion: The refusal to summon the three witnesses was wrong, and the Court ought to have called them to give evidence limited to the question of the witness's untraceability.

Final Conclusion: The revisional challenge succeeded, the impugned refusal was set aside, and the matter was sent back for further proceedings in accordance with law with a direction to record the limited evidence sought by the prosecution.

Ratio Decidendi: The Court's power to summon material evidence essential to a just decision is wide and can be exercised at any stage of the trial, and a refusal to exercise that power is erroneous where the evidence sought is necessary to determine the admissibility or weight of material testimony already on record.

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