Category: Evidence Law
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ADMISSIBILITY OF ILLEGALLY OBTAINED EVIDENCE VIS-A-VIS RIGHT TO PRIVACY UNDER ARTICLE 21 OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION (GUEST POST)
This is a guest post by the very bright Mr. Ritwik Sharma, Advocate, Delhi. This is in the light of the recent order by the Hon’ble High Court of Chhattisgarh in Aasha Lata Soni v. Durgesh Soni (CRMP No. 2112 of 2022) whereby the Hon’ble Court overturned an application under S. 311 of the CrPC allowed by…
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Deferment of cross examination of prosecution witnesses (Defence Counsel diaries)
Weaponisation of the Criminal Justice System and Perjury is rampant in India. False criminal cases are routinely filed to settle scores. In these cases, witnesses, who are often related to each other (and depose on the same set of facts), often depose falsely and parrot the same narrative/story and try to create a pretence of…
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Whether an accused can be directed to disclose his phone password by the investigators?
Background I’ve written on this subject earlier (see here) and primarily on the Karnataka High Court ruling (“Virendra Khanna”) on the subject. Ruling in Virendra Khanna In Virendra Khanna, the High Court permitted the Investigating agencies to direct the accused to disclose his password, and in case of non-compliance, seek Court’s intervention in that regard.…
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A few words on Re-examination of Witnesses | The Art of putting Humpty Dumpty back together again…
The purpose of re-examination is clear from the bare language of Section 138 of the Evidence Act. It reads: 138: Order of Examination – Witnesses shall be first examined-in chief then (if the adverse party so desires) cross-examined, then (if the party calling him so desires) re-examined. .. .. Direction of re-examination.—The re-examination shall be directed…
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Law in 100 Words | Part 10 | Section 313 of the CrPC | Guest Post by Adv. Sholab Arora
Section 313 (1) (b) of CrPC obligates a trial court, after the prosecution evidence is complete, to question the accused “generally on the case…for the purpose of enabling the accused personally to explain any circumstances appearing in the evidence against him”. The product of this exercise is generally referred to as ‘Section 313 Statement’, the…
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Law in 100 Words | Part 6 | Marshalling & Appreciation of Evidence (Guest Post)
“Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done.” And, it would seen to be done only if there is proper marshalling & appreciation of evidences, which is the backbone of any Judgement or Order. Though having pivotal importance, interestingly, these two terms have nowhere been defined in any statute. Marshalling…
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Law in 100 Words | Part 3 | Forgery/use of forged documents in court proceedings – Remedies/Procedure
The general principle is that if a cognizable offence has taken place (and forgery is a cognizable offence!) any person can get an FIR registered. This should hold true for forgery and filing of forged documents in court too, right? Well, the answer is Yes. But this issue wasn’t settled for a very long time. The confusion…
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Law in 100 Words | Part 2 | Electronic Evidence (65B Basics)
The Certificate u/s 65B is not required to be on an affidavit. Though normally to be filed along with the electronic record (print-out, USB drive, etc), it can be filed subsequently too, either as a supplementary chargesheet, or by resort to S.311/391 of the CrPC. In Civil cases, the certificate can be brought on record subsequently by relying upon…
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Committed a crime? Now, face(scan) the consequences! The law against self-incrimination and locked smartphones.
By Bharat Chugh. [1] First published one SCC Online Blog here. On the legality of compelling an accused to disclose his smartphone/laptop password, or open his phone through face-scan, or fingerprint and the constitutional protection against self-incrimination. Our smartphones are an extension of our minds and souls. Our deepest desires. Our darkest secrets. Our smartphones know…
The Blog of Bharat Chugh 