The Uttarakhand High Court has overturned the conviction of four Chinese nationals and ordered a fresh trial, ruling that they were not provided an interpreter when charges were framed, a violation of their right to a fair trial.
Justice Ashish Naithani said this was a fundamental error that invalidated the entire proceedings. The court said the accused understood only Chinese, yet charges were explained without an interpreter. The court further noted that since the accused was not familiar with the court language, it was important to provide an interpreter to explain the charges.
The four were detained in 2019 in Champawat district, Banbasa, during a routine border check for allegedly possessing forged documents and travelling without passports or visas.
They were charged with cheating, forgery, using fake documents, criminal conspiracy, and offences under the Passport Act and Foreigners Act.
A magistrate had acquitted them of some offences but convicted them of others. The sessions court upheld this, after which the accused appealed in the High Court.
The bench said, “The subordinate court also acknowledged that the accused did not understand Hindi or English but only Chinese. Despite this, the charges were framed without the assistance of an interpreter, which violates the fundamental right to a fair trial."
The court said without understanding the charges, the trial itself became meaningless. Although an interpreter was present during their statement recording, the crucial step of explaining charges was not performed correctly.
The High Court set aside all earlier orders, cancelled the conviction and sentence of the accused, and directed that a fresh trial begin with an interpreter throughout.
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