By Sri Y.SRINIVASA RAO, Research Scholar in Law of Torts(Ph.D)., Principal Assistant Sessions Judge.

Public prosecutor – Introductory :

 Public prosecutor means any person appointed by the Central Government or State Government under Section 24 for every High Court in consultation with the High Court, for conducting in such Court, any prosecution, appeal or other proceeding on behalf of the Central Government or State Government, as the case may be and includes any person acting under the directions of a Public Prosecutor, [Section 2 (u), Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.
Public prosecutor is a functionary of the State appointed to assist the court in the conduct of a trial, the object of which is basically to find the truth and to punish the accused if he is found guilty according to the known norms of law and procedure. It is no part of his obligation to secure conviction of an accused, in any event or at all costs. His task is to represent the State’s point of view on the basis of the material which could be legitimately brought before the Court at the trial. A Public Prosecutor has no client or constituency apart from the State and the State is not a party like any other party. He is not paid by an individual who may be aggrieved or by the accused who is on trial. He therefore, does not have the disability of a dual personality, which is true of an ordinary advocate, as was held in Ajay Kumar v. State, ILR (1985) 2 Del 40. 

The Public Prosecutor has a very important role to play in the administration of justice and particularly, in criminal justice system. He has at all times to ensure that an accused is tried fairly. He should consider the views, legitimate interests and possible concern of witnesses and victims. He is supposed to refuse to use evidence reasonably believed to have been obtained through recourse to unlawful methods. His acts should always serve and protect the public interest. The State being a prosecutor, the Public Prosecutor carries a primary position. He is not a mouthpiece of the investigating agency, Deepak Aggarwal v. Keshav Kaushik, (2013) 5 SCC 277: (2013) 2 SCC (L&S) 88: (2013) 2 SCC (Cri) 978: (2013) 3 SCC (Civ) 26.