affirmative, the Magistrate shall explain the substance of the accusation to the accused and ask him whether he pleads guilty otherwise, he is bound to discharge the accused as per Section 239 of the Code.” 19. Sections 211 to 213 and Section 218 of the Code deal with the contents of the charge. The object and purpose of these provisions is to bring the nature of 14 “IPC”, for short. 15 R.P. Kapur v. State of Punjab, AIR 1960 SC 866; State of Haryana and Others v. Bhajan Lal and Others, 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335. Crl. Appeal @ SLP (Crl.) No. 1074 of 2017 & Ors. Page 15 of 38allegations against the accused to his notice. These allegations have to be proved and established by leading evidence. The accused should not be taken by surprise or be unbeknownst so as to cause prejudice to him. The provisions of the Code also prescribe how to interpret the words used in the charge in terms of Section 214 of the Code, the effect of defects in the charge in terms of Section 215 of the Code, the power