Supreme Court Set Guidelines on Confessions Made by the Accused before the Magistrate

The Supreme Court of India, on 21 January 2011, set guidelines on confessional statements made by the accused before a metropolitan or the judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code).

A Supreme Court bench comprising Justice P.Sathasivam and Justice B.S.Chauhan ruled this while upholding the life imprisonment awarded to Dara Singh in the Staines murder case.

The Supreme Court bench in its judgment stated that the magistrate should make a searching enquiry from the accused about the treatment he had been receiving in the custody. The magistrate should make sure that the accused is not making the confessional statement under any torture or pressure from the police. The magistrate or the judicial officer while recording confession should ascertain that the confessional statement made by the accused is not because of any extraneous influence on him.

The Supreme Court further added that at the time of recording the confessional statement made by the accused, no police official should be present and the confession made by the co-accused would not be taken as a strong kind of evidence against the accused.

As per the Section 164 of the CrPC, the confessional statement made by the accused before the metropolitan or the judicial magistrate makes it as authentic as it was made during the court proceedings.