Section 311 CrPC allows recall of witnesses when additional evidence is essential for a just decision.

Section 311 CrPC gives the court a wide power to summon, examine, recall or re-examine a witness when the evidence is necessary for a just decision. The controlling test is the bona fide necessity of the additional evidence, not the stage of trial. Applying that standard, the trial court allowed the prosecution to examine the sanctioning authority and prove the sanction order even after arguments had closed, because it found the evidence essential for justice. The order was upheld as neither illegal nor irregular, and the court was not merely filling a gap in the prosecution case.

---

---

Issues: Whether the order permitting the prosecution to examine the sanctioning authority and prove the sanction order under Section 311 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was legal.

Analysis: Section 311 confers a wide power on the court to summon, examine, recall, or re-examine any witness whenever the evidence is necessary for a just decision of the case. The decisive factor is not the stage of the trial but whether the court bona fide considers the additional evidence essential in the interests of justice. On the facts, the prosecution sought to examine the sanctioning authority after arguments were closed, but the trial court specifically found that such evidence was necessary for a just decision. The case was not one where the defence had introduced new material requiring rebuttal, and the court was not acting merely to fill a gap in the prosecution case.

Conclusion: The order allowing examination of the sanctioning authority was valid and involved no illegality or irregularity.

---