MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently observed that the judicial magistrate must ensure that the accused persons understand the consequences and have sufficient legal advice while pleading guilty before the magistrate proceeds to act.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh was hearing a petition filed by Sathish and Anandh, charged with selling substandard/misbranded food sales by the food safety officer of the Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration department in Karur.
The petitioners appeared before the magistrate court in March 2023 and pleaded guilty, and the case was posted for final judgment. In the meantime, the petitioners realised they had pleaded guilty without knowing the consequences, and filed a petition expressing their intent to contest the same. However, it was dismissed by the trial court and the matter was posted to pronounce the judgement. The petitioners then approached the high court.
The high court said the trial court report did not mention if the admission of guilt was voluntary or not.
The magistrate must see if the accused understand the consequences, and are provided with sufficient legal advice before they plead guilty, the court said, adding that the petitioners must be allowed to contest the case on merits. It set aside the trial court order, stating that the trial court shall proceed with the case by allowing the accused and deal with the case on its own merits, in accordance with law.