86. Separate charge-sheets. -(1) When the convening officer directs any charges against an accused persons to be inserted in different charge-sheets, the accused shall be arraigned and until after the finding tried, upon each charge-sheet separately, and accordingly the procedure in rules 56 to 71 (both inclusive) shall until after the finding, be followed in respect of each charge-sheet, as if it contained the whole of the charges against the accused.
(2) The trials upon the several charge-sheets shall be in such order as the convening officer directs.
(3) When the court has tried the accused upon all the charge-sheets it shall, in the case of the finding being “not guilty” on all the charges, proceed as directed by rule 72 and in case of the finding on any one or more of the charges being “guilty” proceed as directed by rules 62 and 73 to76 (both inclusive), in the manner in each case as if all the charges in the different charge-sheets had been contained in one charge-sheet, and the sentence passed shall be of the same as if all the charges had been contained in one charge-sheet.
(4) If the convening officer directs that, in the event of the conviction of the accused person upon a charge in any charge-sheet, he need not be tried upon the subsequent charge sheets, the court in such event may, without trying the accused upon any of the subsequent charge-sheets, proceed as before directed by sub-rule (3).
(5) Where a charge-sheet contains more than one charge, the accused may, before pleading, claim to be tried separately in respect of any charge or charges in that charge-sheet, on the ground that he will be embarrassed in his defence if he is not so tried separately; and in such case the court, unless it thinks his claim unreasonable, shall arraign and try the accused in like manner as if the convening officer had inserted the said charge or charges in different charge-sheets.
(6) If the accused pleads “guilty” to a charge in a charge-sheet, and the trial does not proceed as mentioned in sub-rule (1) of rule 62 with respect to the other charges in that charge sheet the court shall, subject to the directions of the convening officer, proceed to try the accused on the charges in the next charge-sheet before it proceeds as directed by sub-rules (3) and (4) of rule 62.
| 