Confession before police admissible only when new evidence found: High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has reaffirmed that a confession made by an accused before a police officer cannot be used as evidence, except in cases where it leads to the discovery of material evidence.

Citing the provisions of the Indian Evidence Act, the Bench of Justices Sureshwar Thakur and Sudeepti Sharma asserted that Section 25 strictly prohibits any confession made to a police officer from being used against the accused in court. “Such confessions are inadmissible as they are often extracted under duress or undue influence, making them unreliable,” the Bench observed.

The court added that Section 27, at the same time, allowed an exception in cases where the confession led to the discovery of new evidence known only to the accused. In such instances, the part of the confession that directly related to the discovery could be admitted as evidence. “The admissibility is confined to the facts discovered due to the confession, reinforcing the need for corroboration,” the court observed.

The assertion came in a case where the accused led the police to the recovery of an incriminating object, which was found based on his confession in police custody. Since the object was discovered at a location exclusively known to the accused, the court ruled that the portion of the confession was admissible under Section 27, while the rest of the statement remained inadmissible.

The ruling is significant as it lays emphasis on careful balance between protecting the rights of the accused and allowing the prosecution to use credible evidence arising directly from the confession of an accused. The court further noted that the rationale behind the exception in Section 27 was to ensure that material facts leading to the discovery of new evidence were not excluded from trial proceedings.