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Criminal Trials: Practice, Procedure and Law by Vinayak D. Kakde and Nihalsing Rathod, published by Law & Justice Publishing Co., is a 1369-page practitioner's work on the conduct of a criminal trial in India, from the first information report to judgment and appeal. Hardbound, English, Edition 2026.

Kakde's Criminal Trials earned its reputation by answering the question that commentaries on the Code do not: not what the section says, but what actually happens in the courtroom, and what the lawyer is supposed to do when it happens. This edition, now with Nihalsing Rathod — a Nagpur-based criminal defence and human rights advocate with substantial trial-court experience — carries that approach into the new criminal law framework.

The timing matters. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024, replacing the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Indian Penal Code and the Evidence Act. Trial practice is the part of criminal law most affected, because every stage — registration, investigation, cognizance, committal, charge, examination of witnesses, statement of the accused, arguments, judgment, sentencing — now runs on renumbered and in places redrafted provisions, with new statutory timelines and new rules on electronic records and audio-video recording. A book about how a trial is conducted has to be read against the Sanhita, and this one is.

Key Features

• Edition 2026, Law & Justice Publishing Co.
• 1369 pages — a complete, single-volume treatment of trial practice
• Written by practitioners for practitioners — practice, procedure and law together
• Follows the chronological life of a case, from FIR to appeal
• Covers the new criminal laws — BNSS, BNS and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam
• Practical treatment of examination-in-chief, cross-examination and re-examination
• Hardbound · English · ISBN 9789347041495

Coverage

Setting the Criminal Law in Motion. Information to the police, registration of the FIR, zero FIR and electronic registration, cognizable and non-cognizable offences, preliminary enquiry, and the remedies available when a complaint is not registered.

Investigation. The powers and duties of the investigating officer, arrest and the rights of the arrested person, remand, search and seizure, recovery and the memorandum, statements of witnesses, the confession and its limits, medical and forensic examination, audio-video recording requirements, and the charge-sheet and final report.

Bail. Regular bail, anticipatory bail, default bail and the statutory timelines, cancellation of bail, and the considerations the courts apply at each stage.

Cognizance, Committal and Charge. Taking cognizance, process to the accused, supply of documents, discharge, framing of charge, joinder and alteration of charges, and the committal of sessions cases.

Modes of Trial. Sessions trial, warrant trial, summons trial and summary trial — the procedure peculiar to each, and the stages at which each may end.

The Prosecution Case. Summoning and securing the attendance of witnesses, the order of evidence, examination-in-chief, the proving and marking of documents and material objects, expert and medical witnesses, hostile witnesses and the procedure on declaring them so.

Cross-Examination. The object and technique of cross-examination, contradictions and omissions and how they are proved, previous statements, the credit of a witness, and the common errors that cost the defence its case.

Appreciation of Evidence. Burden and standard of proof, circumstantial evidence and the chain of circumstances, dying declarations, identification of the accused, medical evidence against ocular evidence, presumptions, and the benefit of doubt.

Statement of the Accused and Defence Evidence. The examination of the accused, its purpose and its evidentiary value, the defence case, and the right to lead evidence.

Arguments, Judgment and Sentencing. Final arguments and written submissions, the contents and form of a judgment, conviction and acquittal, the hearing on sentence, sentencing principles, victim compensation, probation and plea bargaining.

Appeals, Revision and Review. Appeals against conviction and acquittal, revision, reference, suspension of sentence pending appeal, and the powers of the appellate and revisional courts.

Special Procedures. Trials under special statutes, protection of witnesses and victims, trial of juveniles, in-camera proceedings, and the use of electronic records and video conferencing.

Who Should Buy This Book?

• Criminal advocates — defence and prosecution — in trial and appellate practice
• Juniors and new entrants to criminal practice, as a complete working manual
• Public prosecutors, additional public prosecutors and law officers
• Judicial officers and candidates for judicial service examinations
• Police and investigating officers, and police and judicial training academies
• LL.B. and LL.M. students taking criminal procedure, trial advocacy and clinical courses
• Moot court and trial advocacy societies
• Bar associations, court and institutional libraries

Why Choose This Book?

A commentary on the Sanhita tells the reader what each section provides. This book tells the reader what to do on the day. The difference shows most in the chapters on cross-examination, on proving contradictions and omissions, and on the handling of hostile witnesses — material that cannot be derived from the bare provisions and is usually learned, slowly and expensively, in the trial court itself.

The second reason is completeness in one volume. At 1369 pages the book follows a case from the first information report to the appellate judgment without sending the reader elsewhere. For a junior building a criminal practice, that continuity is worth more than depth on any single point.

The third is the authorship. Vinayak D. Kakde's work on criminal trials has been used by practitioners and judicial officers across India for years, and Nihalsing Rathod brings current defence experience in contested sessions trials. The result is a text written from inside the courtroom rather than above it.