Confession to Police Officer | On a dark night, a murder was committed in Delhi. Nobody is named as the murderer. The Sub-inspector of police went to the locality to investigate… Discuss the validity of the aforesaid confessional statement of Abhay.

Question: Confession to Police Officer | On a dark night, a murder was committed in Delhi. Nobody is named as the murderer. The Sub-inspector of police went to the locality to investigate. While he was investigating, one Abhay came to him and said that he committed murder.

After that Abhay was arrested and became accused in the case and was tried for the offence of murder. Discuss the validity of the aforesaid confessional statement of Abhay.

Find the answer to the mains question only on Legal Bites. Confession to Police Officer | [On a dark night, a murder was committed in Delhi. Nobody is named as the murderer. The Sub-inspector of police went to the locality to investigate… Discuss the validity of the aforesaid confessional statement of Abhay.]

Answer

Confession is Judicial when the accused admits his guilt directly before the court of law on the other hand Extra-judicial confession is when the accused admits his guilt before any person outside court. The person may be a police officer or any other private person.

Judicial Confession is a good piece of evidence, however; the Extra-Judicial confession is weak evidence and must be observed with circumspection.

Confession made by an accused seems to be logically relevant to make it admissible against the accused person. However, Section 25 provides that no confession made to a police officer shall be provable or relevant. It imposes a bar on the admissibility of confession made to a police officer and absolutely excludes it from evidence against the accused, under whatsoever circumstances. Whether such a person is in police custody or not, whether the statement is made during an investigation or not, is irrelevant.

This section covers a confession made by the accused when he was free and not in police custody, as also a confession made before any investigation has begun. No part of a first information report lodged by the accused with the police could be admitted into evidence if it was in the nature of a confessional statement. The statement can, however, be admitted to identifying the accused as the maker of the report

This is to protect the accused who might be tortured to extract out a false confession. If a person is confessing in front of someone else, it will not be irrelevant just because of the presence of a policeman around. This section only applies to confessional statements, orally or in FIR; other admissions can be taken as evidence to prove facts or facts in issue.

Only when an accused person confesses during the Police investigation does the Police frequently get it to record by a Magistrate under section 164 Criminal Procedure Code, and it can then be used to the extent to which it may be admissible under the Indian Evidence Act.

Thus, in the present case at hand, the confession made by Abhay to the Sub-inspector that he has committed the murder would not be made admissible by virtue of section 25, of the act.

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Important Mains Questions Series for Judiciary, APO & University Exams

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