CrPC § 236 — Where it is doubtful what offence has been committed

Statutory text (English)

If a single act or series of acts is of such
a nature that it is doubtful which of several offences the facts which can be proved will constitute, the
accused may be charged with having committed all or any of such offences, and any number of such charges
may be tried at once; or he may be charged in the alternative with having committed some one of the said
offences.
Illustrations
(a) A is accused of an act which may amount to theft, or receiving stolen property, or criminal
breach of trust or cheating. He may be charged with theft, receiving stolen property, criminal
breach of trust and cheating, or he may be charged with having committed theft, or receiving
stolen property, or criminal breach of trust or cheating.
(b) A states on oath before the Magistrate that he saw B hit C with a club. Before the Sessions Court
A states on oath that B never hit C. A may be charged in the alternative and convicted of
intentionally giving false evidence, although it cannot be proved which of these contradictory
statements was false.

Source and verification

Source citation: CrPC (Act V of 1898) s.236: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE' (Act No. V of 1898, last amended 2017-02-16), p. 112, ingested 2026-09-15. Automated transcription from official source (pypdf extraction, audited artifact repair); human admin re-check required before production.

Verification status: verified · Text status: auto_transcribed_verified_source

The record cites an official source, but its transcription is automated or only partly checked; a human re-check is pending.

Official Urdu text status: pending_official_urdu_text. Where official Urdu wording has not been sourced, Qanoon does not substitute an unverified translation for the statutory text.

Historical text notes

1 historical record is linked to this section. Historical wording may be incomplete or pending verification; it is not presented as current law.

• Date not confirmed: Consolidated current text as published in the official Pakistan Code PDF (p. 112) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment…

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