Definition
Release before trial.
Accused discharged if no prima facie case.
Statutory Definition
BNSS 2023.
Etymology & Origin
From Old French 'deschargier' (to unload or free from a burden). In law, it frees the accused from the burden of facing a criminal trial.
Full Legal Analysis
Discharge is a vital pre-trial remedy available to an accused person. It is an order passed by a judge releasing the accused from the criminal case without holding a full trial, because the judge determines that the charge sheet and accompanying documents do not establish a 'prima facie' (at first sight) case against them.
A discharge happens before the formal 'framing of charges'. If the judge considers the police records and concludes that even if everything the police allege is assumed to be true, it still doesn't amount to a crime, the accused must be discharged.
Importantly, a discharge is not an 'acquittal'. If new, compelling evidence is discovered later, an accused who was discharged can theoretically be prosecuted again, whereas an acquitted person is protected by double jeopardy.
A landmark judgment laying down the test for discharge: the judge must sift and weigh the evidence solely to find out if a prima facie case is made out. They are not to conduct a 'mini-trial' at this stage.
Filing a discharge application is the first major defensive maneuver for an advocate post-charge sheet. It requires pinpointing fatal legal flaws or utter absence of evidence in the prosecution's own documents.
This Term in Indian Statutes
Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, 2023
"If... the Judge considers that there is not sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused, he shall discharge the accused."
The statutory right to be freed from facing a baseless trial.
