A, an accused after production of an axe from a place said that it was the weapon with which the deceased was killed. Is the aforesaid statement made by the accused to a police officer, while…in police custody, relevant under Section 27…at the instance of the accused

Question: A, an accused after production of an axe from a place said that it was the weapon with which the deceased was killed. Is the aforesaid statement made by the accused to a police officer, while the accused is in police custody, relevant under Section 27 as the discovery of a fact at the instance of the accused

Find the answer to the mains question only on Legal Bites. [A, an accused after production of an axe from a place said that it was the weapon with which the deceased was killed. Is the aforesaid statement made by the accused to a police officer, while the accused is in police custody, relevant under Section 27 as the discovery of a fact at the instance of the accused?]

Answer

Section 27 talks about information received from an accused person.

It says that “when any fact is deposed to as discovered in consequence of information received from a person accused of any offence, in the custody of a police officer, so much of such information, whether it amounts to a confession or not, as relates distinctly to the fact thereby discovered, may be proved.”

This section is based on the principle that the confession of the accused is supported by the discovery of facts, then the confession will be deemed to be done voluntarily and not extracted under pressure. However, this rule is applicable only in certain circumstances they are: –

1. If certain facts are deposed to as discovered in consequence of information received from the accused person, in the custody of a police officer; and
2. If the information disclosed relates distinctly to the facts discovered

The SC has observed in the case of State of Maharashtra v. Damu Gopinath Shinde, (2000) 6 SCC 269 herein as under:

“In the light of section 27, whatever information was given by the accused, in consequence of which a fact is discovered, only would be admissible in evidence, whether such information amounts to a confession or not. The basic idea embedded under this section is the doctrine of confirmation by subsequent events. The doctrine is founded on the principle that if any fact is discovered in a search made on the strength of any information obtained from a prisoner, such a discovery is a guarantee that the information supplied by the prisoner is true. The information might be confessional or non-inculpatory in nature, but if it results in discovery of a fact, it becomes a reliable information.”

However, The Supreme Court has held in Jaffer Hussein Dastagir v. State of Maharashtra [AIR (1969) 73 Bom LR 26] that in order that this section may apply the prosecution must establish that the information was given by the accused led to the discovery of some fact deposed to by him. The discovery must be of some fact which the police had not previously learnt from other sources and that the knowledge of the fact was first derived from information given by the accused.

Applying the principles and scope of section 27 to the present case at hand, the facts suggest that because A, an accused after production of an axe from a place said that it was the weapon with which the deceased was killed. This statement made by the accused to a police officer, while in police custody, is not relevant under Section 27 as the discovery of a fact was not at the instance of the accused. The statement of the accused was deposed later to the articles discovered i.e. axe in the present case.

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Important Mains Questions Series for Judiciary, APO & University Exams

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