Judgment

CHINNAPPA REDDY. J.:- What is the true role of a judge trying a criminal case? Is he to assume the role of a referee in a football match or an umpire in a cricket match, occasionally answering, as Pollock and Maitland [Pollock and Maitland : The history of English law] point out, the question How is that or, is he to, in the words of Lord Denning drop the mantle of a judge and assume the role of an advocate? [Jones v. National Coal Board : (1957) 2 All ER 155.], Is he to be a spectator or a participant at the trial? Is passivity or activity to mark his attitude? If he desires to question any of the witnesses, how far can he go? Can he put on the gloves and have a go at the witness who he suspects is lying or is he to be soft and suave? These are some of the questions which we are compelled to ask ourselves in this appeal on account of the manner in which the judge who tried the case put questions to some of the witnesses.

2. The adversary system of trial being what it is, there is an unfortunate tendency for a judge presiding over a trial to assume the role of a referee or an umpire and to allow the trial to develop into a contest between the prosecution and the defence with