ORDER
M.F. Saldanha, J.
1. As far as the Office objections are concerned, in view of the Affidavit, the delay is condoned. I.A.I is allowed.
2. However, on merits, we have heard the learned S.P.P. whose only submission was the Trial Court ought to have ensured the presence of the witnesses which does not seem to have been done. From the record, we are unable to conclude that the non-appearance of the witnesses was due to any fault on the part of the prosecution. We however need to observe that this Court has come across many instances where the witnesses do not appear and on investigation, the reason that emerges is that the witnesses were unaware of the fact that their presence was required before the Court. In all such cases, it has unfortunately been revealed that the concerned authorities namely the Police have not served the summon on the witnesses for reasons that are more than obvious to us. The non-appearance of the witnesses undoubtedly results in the failure of the prosecution and the direct beneficiary in such instance are the accused before the Court and it is more than clear to us that this is one of the methods adopted obviously in collusion with the accused for purposes of sabotaging the prosecution.
3. The Cr.P.C. invests the Trial Courts with sufficient powers to secure the presence of the witnesses. If for any reason the dispute has been compromised, that fact must honestly be placed before the Court but in the majority of cases where the offences themselves are non-compoundable, it is very clear that there is a definite pattern adopted in ensuring the failure of the prosecution by either not serving the witnesses or making false statements that they are not traceable. We refuse to accept that witnesses can just vanish into thin air and further more that the Police machinery is incapable of tracing them out even if they have shifted their place of residence etc.
4. The end result of what has been happening is that in a substantial number of cases the justice dispensation machinery is being subverted and this is something which will have to be curved. The Trial Court shall ensure that the witnesses are produced before the Court and if any excuses are made, such as non-service of summons or the filing of false reports that witnesses are not traceable, the Trial Court shall forthwith take appropriate action against the persons responsible for this among other things by directing appropriate action against the erring officials through suitable action from the concerned department.
5. The Registrar-General shall ensure that a copy of this order is forwarded to all the District Judges who in turn shall prepare sufficient copies of the same and circulate it to all the Trial Courts.
6. With the above observations, this appeal to stand disposed of.