Patna High Court - Orders
Pinki Kumari vs The State Of Bihar & Ors on 14 May, 2014
Author: Samarendra Pratap Singh
Bench: Samarendra Pratap Singh
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Criminal Writ Jurisdiction Case No.187 of 2014
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Pinki Kumari Wife Of Sri Jai Prakash Yadav Resident Of Village - Auraha,
P.S.- Laukahi, District - Madhubani
.... .... Petitioner
Versus
1. The State Of Bihar
2. The Director General Of Police, Bihar, Patna
3. The Superintendent Of Police, Madhubani
4. The Officer In Charge, Laukahi Police Station, Madhubani
.... .... Respondents
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Appearance :
For the Petitioner : Mr. Manish Kumar No. 13, Advocate
Mr. J. K. Bharti, Advocate
For the Respondents : Mr. Vikash Kumar, AC to AG
Mr. Bindhyachal Singh, Amicus Curiae
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE I. A. ANSARI
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SAMARENDRA PRATAP SINGH
ORAL ORDER
(Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE I. A. ANSARI)
8 14-05-2014The petitioner lodged First Information Report, at Laukahi Police Station, alleging inter alia, that her husband, Jai Prakash Yadav, had been abducted, on 30.08.2013, at about 2.00 PM, from local Community Hall by the persons named in the First Information Report, because there had been a dispute over land between the family of the informant and the family of the accused. Based on the First Information Report so lodged, Laukahi Police Station Case No. 92 of 2013, under Sections 363/364/34 of the Indian Penal Code, was registered against those, who were named by the informant as abductors.
Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 2
2. Thereafter, alleging to the effect, inter alia, that her abducted husband, had not been recovered and handed over by the police to the petitioner, the petitioner came to this Court with the present application, made under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking issuance of, inter alia, a writ in the nature of habeas corpus commanding respondent No. 3, namely, Superintendent of Police, Madhubani, to produce the victim.
3. By filing counter affidavit, respondents have submitted that upon conducting investigation, the case has been found to be true against the accused named in the First Information Report and that, during investigation, incriminating materials had also been found against some persons, who had not been named in the First Information Report. In the counter affidavit, the respondents have also averred that according to the confessional statements of two accused, who had abducted the victim and kept him in their house for three/four days, they had handed over the victim to Radhye Sah and Pawan Sah and pursuant to the information so received from the confessional statements of the two accused aforementioned, a hectic search is being made with all sincerity, but police have not been succeeded in apprehending Radhye Sah and Pawan Sah and, due to their inability to do so, they have already announced an Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 3 award of Rs.50,000/- each to one who helps the police in apprehending any of the said two accused. In the counter affidavit, it has been further averred that on having completed investigation, charge sheet has also been filed against accused some of the persons keeping the investigation pending against remaining accused.
4. Learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner seeks to withdraw this application with liberty to approach this Court with another application. To the prayer so made, no objection has been raised on behalf of the respondents.
5. Though this Court does not resist withdrawal of the present application, whereby issuance of a writ of habeas corpus was sought for, there is one disturbing element, which has come to our notice, this element being that the petitioner has placed on record certified copies of the confessions, which have been allegedly made by two of the accused persons to the police under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and, not to the Magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
6. The question, therefore, which has, naturally, arisen is: whether it was permissible to provide to the petitioner certified copies of the said two confessional statements made by the accused, though investigation is Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 4 still pending?
7. In other words, the question is: whether it was permissible to give certified copies of the statements of two accused, recorded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, in the form of their confessional statements made to the police, while the investigation was still pending?
8. While considering the question posed above, one has to bear in mind Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which reads as under:
"161. Examination of witnesses by police (1) Any police officer making an investigation under this Chapter, or any police officer not below such rank as the State Government may, by general or special order, prescribe in this behalf, acting on the requisition of such officer, may examine orally any person supposed to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case. (2) Such person shall be bound to answer truly all questions relating to such case put to him by such officer, other than questions the answers to which would have a tendency to expose him to a criminal charge or to a penalty or forfeiture.
(3) The police officer may reduce into Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 5 writing any statement made to him in the course of an examination under this section; and if he does so, he shall make a separate and true record of the statement of each such person whose statement he records. [Provided that statement made under this sub-section may also be recorded by audio-video electronic means].
Provided further that the statement of a woman against whom an offence under Section 354, Section 354A, Section 354B, Section 354C, Section 354D, Section 376, Section 376A, Section 376B, Section 376C, Section 376D, Section 376E or Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code is alleged to have been committed or attempted shall be recorded, by a woman police officer or any woman officer."
9. What is of paramount importance to note, while considering Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, is that the Code of Criminal Procedure specifically deals with examination of an accused by the police. What is imperative to note is that neither in the Evidence Act nor in the Code of Criminal Procedure, there is any specific provision with regard to the examination of an accused by a police officer. As far as examination of witnesses is concerned, the provisions have been made under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 6 Section shows that a police officer may examine orally any person suspected to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case. Undoubtedly, the heading of the Section, (i.e., Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure) reads, "Examination of witnesses by police". However, the provisions, contained in Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, give no such indication that examination of a person, by the police, as contemplated under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, is limited to witnesses alone and will not include an accused. Though, ordinarily, the heading of a section, in a statute, may help in the interpretation of the provisions contained in the section, the heading is not always determinative of the power, duty or function, which the section may seek to convey. Section 161 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure makes it clear that any Police Officer may examine orally any person, who is supposed to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the given case. Sub-section (2) of Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure binds the person, who is so interrogated to answer truly all the questions put to him by the police officer, except, of course, those questions, which, if answered, would have a tendency to expose the person interrogated to a criminal charge or to a penalty or forfeiture. Section 161 (3) of the Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 7 Code of Criminal Procedure permits he police officer to reduce into writing any statement, made to him, in the course of the examination under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and, if he does so, he shall make a separate and true record of the statement of each such person, whose statement he records.
10. Thus, the recording of a statement of a person, under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, in writing, is optional for the police officer, who investigates a case. It is not, therefore, statutorily mandatory for a police officer to reduce into writing the statement made to him by a person, who may be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of a given case. Such a person may be a witness to an offence; such a person, may also be the one, who has committed the offence.
11. Sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure empowers a police officer to examine orally any person, who is acquainted with the facts and circumstances of a case and such a person shall be bound to truly answer the questions except answering a question, which would have a tendency to expose him to a criminal charge or to a penalty or forfeiture. Under sub- Section (3) of Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 8 Procedure, the police officer may reduce into writing any statement made to him in the course of an examination and, if he does so, he is required to make a separate and true record of the statement of each such person, whose statement he records. Such a statement may also be recorded by audio-video electronic means.
12. To put it a little differently, what must, however, be remembered is that sub-Section (1) of Section 162 of the Code of Criminal Procedure debars a police officer from obtaining signature of the person, whose statement, he may have reduced into writing. Sub-section (1) of Section 162 of the Code of Criminal Procedure also bars such statement, or any record thereof, whether in a police diary or otherwise, or any part of such statement or record, from being used for any purpose, at any inquiry or trial, in respect of any offence under investigation at the time, when such statement was made, provided that when any witness is called for the prosecution in such inquiry or trial, whose statement has been reduced into writing, as aforesaid, any part of his statement, if duly proved, may be used by the accused, and, with the permission of the Court, by the prosecution, to contradict such witness in the manner as provided by Section 145 of the Evidence Act, 1872, and when any part of such statement is so used, any Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 9 part thereof may also be used in the re-examination of such witness, but for the purpose only of explaining any matter referred to in his cross-examination.
13. What is, now, of immense importance is that Section 162 of the Code of Criminal Procedure makes it clear that a statement, made to a police officer, is not to be signed and such a statement cannot be used as a substantive evidence except by the defence for the purpose of contradicting the witness, at the trial, by his previous statement so recorded during investigation and, with the permission of the Court, by the prosecution.
14. The Explanation as given in sub-Section (3) of Section 162 of the Code of Criminal Procedure shows that an omission to state a fact or circumstance in the statement, referred to in sub-section (1), may amount to contradiction if the same appears to be significant and, otherwise, relevant having regard to the context to which such omission occurs and whether any omission amounts to a contradiction, in a particular context, shall be a question of fact.
15. Let us, now, come to Section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which reads as follow:-
"172. Diary of proceedings in investigation (1) Every police officer making an Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 10 investigation under this Chapter shall day by day enter his proceedings in the investigation in a diary, setting forth the time at which the information reached him, the time at which he began and closed his investigation, the place or places visited by him, and a statement of the circumstances ascertained through his investigation. (1A) The statements of witnesses recorded during the course of investigation under section 161 shall be inserted in the case diary.
(1B) The diary referred to in sub-section (7) shall be a volume and duly paginated. (2) Any Criminal Court may send for the police diaries of a case under inquiry or trial in such Court, and may use such diaries, not as evidence in the case, but to aid it in such inquiry or trial.
(3) Neither the accused nor his agents shall be entitled to call for such diaries, nor shall he or they be entitled to see them merely because they are referred to by the Court; but, if they are used by the police officer who made them to refresh his memory, or if the Court uses them for the purpose of contradicting such police officer, the provisions of section 161 or section 145, as the case may be, of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, shall apply.
16. From a bare reading of Section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it becomes clear that every Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 11 police officer, making an investigation, shall, day by day, enter his proceedings, in the investigation, in a diary, setting forth the time at which the information reached him, the time at which he began and closed his investigation, the place or places visited by him and a statement of the circumstances ascertained through his investigation. Section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure also requires that the statements of witnesses, recorded during the course of investigation under section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, shall be inserted in the case diary, which shall be a volume and duly paginated.
17. Section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure also empowers that every criminal Court to send for the case diary of a case, which is under enquiry or trial, and make use of such diary, not as evidence in the case, but to aid the Court in such inquiry or trial.
18. What is extremely important to note is that according to sub-Section (3) of Section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, neither the accused nor his agents shall be entitled to call for case diary nor shall he or they be entitled to see the case diary merely because the case diary is referred to by the Court; but, if the case diary is used by a police officer, to refresh his memory or if the Court uses the case diary for the purpose of contradicting such police Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 12 officer, the provisions of Section 161 or Section 145, as the case may be, of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, shall apply.
19. From a careful reading of the scheme of the Code of Criminal Procedure relating to the case diary, it becomes abundantly clear that an accused or his agent is not entitled to call for the case diary nor shall he or his agent be entitled to see the contents of the case diary even if they are referred to by the Court except when the contents are used by a police officer to refresh his memory or if the Court uses the contents of the case diary for the purpose of contradicting the police officer.
20. In the present case, providing of certified copies of the confessional statements of the accused to the petitioner is wholly illegal and such a practice has been seriously resented by the Supreme Court in Sidharth and others v. State of Bihar, [AIR 2005 SC 4352], which arose out of a case in the State of Bihar, wherein the Supreme Court, having noticed that the entire case diary, maintained by the police, had been made available to the accused, pointed out that under Section 172 of the Criminal Procedure Code, every police officer, making an investigation, has to record his proceedings in a diary setting forth the time at which the information reached him, the time at which he began and closed his Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 13 investigation, the place or places visited by him and a statement of the circumstances ascertained through his investigation and it is specifically provided in Sub-clause (3) of Section 172 that neither the accused nor his agents shall be entitled to call for such diaries nor shall he or they be entitled to see the contents of the case diary merely because the case diary is referred to by the Court, but if they are used by a police officer, who made the case diary to refresh his memory, or if the Court uses the case diary for the purpose of contradicting such a police officer, the provisions of Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure or the provisions of Section 145 of the Evidence Act, 1872, shall be complied with.
21. It has been mentioned by the Supreme Court, in Sidharth (supra), that a Court is empowered to call for case diary not to use it as evidence but to use it as an aid to find out anything that happened during the investigation of the crime. It has also been pointed out by the Supreme Court, in Sidharth (supra), that a police officer, which conduct an investigation, may come across a series of information, which cannot be divulged to the accused, but the police officer is bound to record such facts in the case diary and if the entire case diary is made available to the accused, it may cause serious prejudice to Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 14 others and even affect the safety and security of those, who may have given statements to the police.
22. It is trite that confidentiality is always maintained in the matter of criminal investigation and it is not desirable to make available the entire case diary to the accused. In no uncertain words, therefore, points out the Supreme Court, in Sidharth (supra), that it (Supreme Court) had noticed that the entire case diary had given to the accused and the investigating officer was extensively cross-examined on many facts, which were not very much relevant for the purpose of the case, though the learned Sessions Judge should have been careful in ensuring that the trial of the case was conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
23. In the case of Mukund Lal v. Union of India, [1989 Supp. (1) SCC 622], the High Court dealing with the case diary, had observed thus :
"So far as Section 172(3) is concerned, the embargo on the right of the accused or his representative in calling for the diary or seeing any part of it is only a partial one and not absolute because if a part of the diary has been used by the police officer to refresh his memory or the court uses it for the purpose of contradicting such police officer, the provisions of Sections 161 and 145 of the Indian Evidence Act, will be Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 15 applicable. So far as the other parts are concerned, the accused need not necessarily have a right of access to them because in a criminal trial or enquiry, whatever is sought to be proved against the accused, will have to be proved by the evidence other than the diary itself and the diary can only be used for a very limited purpose by the court or the police officer as stated above. Even then, a safeguard has already been provided in the section itself to protect the right of the accused. The Investigating Officer deposes before the court on the basis of the entries in the diary. If the accused or his counsel thinks that he is stating something against the diary or is trying to hide something which may be in the diary he can put question in that respect to the Investigating Officer, and if the accused or his counsel has any doubt about the veracity of the statement made by the Investigating Officer, he may always request the court to look into the diary and verify the facts and, this right of the accused can always be safeguarded. It is true that it is for the court to decide whether the facts stated are borne out by the diary or not, but then this much reliance has always to be placed on the court and it has to be trusted as it is trusted in the case under Section 123 of the Evidence Act in order to decide whether any privilege can be claimed with Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 16 respect to the documents in question. Even according to the authorities relied upon by the learned counsel for the petitioner pertaining to Section 123 of the Evidence Act, it is the right of the court to decide whether the privileged document contains any material affecting the public interest or a particular affair of the State, which need not be disclosed.
When in the enquiry or trial, everything which may appear against the accused has to be established and brought before the court by evidence other than the diary and the accused can have the benefit of cross- examining the witnesses and the court has power to call for the diary and use it, of course not as evidence but in aid of the enquiry or trial, I am clearly of the opinion, that the provisions under Section 172(3) CrPC cannot be said to be unconstitutional."
24. Agreeing with the reasons so assigned, in Mukund Lal (supra), by the Allahabad High Court and concurring with its conclusions, the Supreme Court pointed out, in Mukund Lal (supra), that the provisions, embodied in sub-section (3) of Section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, cannot be characterized as unreasonable or arbitrary inasmuch as the Court has the unfettered power, under sub-Section (2) of Section 172 of the Code of Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 17 Criminal Procedure, to examine the entries in the case diaries and this is a very important safeguard. The Supreme Court has also pointed, in Mukund Lal (supra), out that the legislature has reposed complete trust in the Court, which is conducting the inquiry or the trial, inasmuch as the legislature has empowered the court to call for any such relevant case diary if there is any inconsistency or contradiction arising in the context of the case diary, the court can use the entries for the purpose of contradicting the police officer as provided in sub-section (3) of Section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Supreme Court, therefore, concluded, in Mukund Lal (supra), that there can be no better custodian or guardian of the interest of justice than the court trying the case and no court will deny to itself the power to make use of the entries, in the diary, to the advantage of the accused by contradicting the police officer with reference to the contents of the diaries and in view of this safeguard, the charge of unreasonableness or arbitrariness cannot stand scrutiny.
25. The petitioners, in Mukund Lal (supra), had claimed an unfettered right to make roving inspection of the entries in the case diary regardless of the fact as to whether these entries are used by the police officer concerned to refresh his memory or regardless of the fact Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 18 as to whether the court has used these entries for the purpose of contradicting such police officer or not. The Supreme Court took the view in Mukund Lal (supra), that it cannot be said that unless such an unfettered right is conferred and recognized, the embargo, engrafted in sub- section (3) of Section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, would fail to meet the test of reasonableness.
26. In Mukund Lal (supra), the Supreme Court has further noted that in a case diary, there might be a note as regards the identity of the informant, who gave some information, which resulted in investigation into a particular aspect and public interest demands that such an entry is not made available to the accused for it might endanger the safety of the informant and it might deter the informant from giving any information to assist the investigating agency, as observed in Mohinder Singh v. Emperor [Air 1932 Lah 103,104 : 33 Cri LJ 97], which read as under:
"The accused has no right to insist upon a police witness referring to his diary in order to elicit information which is privileged. The contents of the diary are not at the disposal of the defence and cannot be used except strictly in accordance with the provisions of Sections 162 and 172. Section 172 shows that Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 19 witness may refresh his memory by reference to them but such use is at the discretion of the witness and the judge, whose duty it is to ensure that the privilege attaching to them by statute is strictly enforced."
27. While considering the above aspect of the case, the Supreme court has also referred to a decision, in Mahabirji Birajman Mandir v. Prem Narain Shukla, [AIR 1965 All 494], wherein it has been held as under:
"The case diary contains not only the statements of witnesses recorded under Section 161 CrPC, and the site plan or other documents prepared by the Investigating Officer, but also reports or observations of the Investigating Officer or his superiors. These reports are of a confidential nature and privilege can be claimed thereof. Further, the disclosure of the contents of such reports cannot help any of the parties to the litigation, as the report invariably contains the opinion of such officers and their opinion is inadmissible in evidence."
28. We, now, turn to Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which reads as under:
207. Supply to the accused of copy of police report and other documents:
In any case where the proceeding has been instituted on a police report, the Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 20 Magistrate shall without delay furnish to the accused, free of cost, a copy of each of the following.
(i) The police report;
(ii) The first information report recorded under section 154
(iii) The statements recorded under sub-
section (3) of section 161 of all persons whom the prosecution proposes to examine as its witnesses, excluding there from any part in regard to which a request for such exclusion has been made by the police officer under sub- section (6) of section 173.
(iv) The confessions and statements, if any, recorded under section 164;
(v) Any other document or relevant extract thereof forwarded to the Magistrate with the police report under sub-section (5) of section 173.
Provided that the Magistrate may, after perusing any such part of a statement as is referred to in clause (iii) and considering the reasons given by the police officer for the request, direct that a copy of that part of the statement or of such portion thereof as the Magistrate thinks proper, shall be furnished to the accused:
Provided further that if the Magistrate is satisfied that any document referred to in Clause (v) is Voluminous, he shall, instead of furnishing the accused Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 21 with a copy thereof', direct that he will only be allowed to inspect it either personally or through pleader in court.
29. Closely following, Section 208 of the Code of Criminal Procedure reads as under:
208. Supply of copies of statements and documents to accused in other cases triable by court of Session.
Where, in a case instituted otherwise than on a police report, it appears to the Magistrate issuing process under section 204 that the offence is triable exclusively by the Court of Session, the Magistrate shall without delay furnish to the accused, free of cost, a copy of each of the following.
(i) The statements recorded under section 200 or section 202, or all persons examined by the Magistrate;
(ii) The statements and confessions, if any, recorded under section 161 or section 164;
(iii) Any documents produced before the Magistrate on which the prosecution proposes to rely:
Provided that if the Magistrate is satisfied that any such document is voluminous, he shall, instead of furnishing the accused with a copy thereof, direct that he will only be allowed to inspect it either personally or through pleader in court.
30. From a reading of Section 207 of the Code Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 22 of Criminal Procedure, what clearly transpires is that before particulars of offence is explained to an accused in a summon case or he is called upon to respond to a charge framed in a warrant case or in a sessions case, the warrant case, instituted otherwise than on police, he shall be furnished with the police report, first information report recorded under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, statements recorded under sub-section (3) of section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, of all persons, whom the prosecution proposes to examine as its witnesses, excluding therefrom any part with regard to which a request for such exclusion has been made by the police officer under sub- section (6) of section 173, confessions and statements, if any, recorded under section 164 and any other document or relevant extract thereof forwarded to the Magistrate with the police report under sub-section (5) of section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
31. It is clear that a confession of an accused, recorded by a police officer under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, is not to be furnished to an accused unless the confession has been recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, copy of a statement of a witness, recorded under Section 161 of the Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 23 Code of Criminal Procedure or under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and which is relied upon by the prosecution, has to be furnished to the accused in order to enable him to effectively cross-examine the witness except that part of the statement, which, according to the Investigating Officer, needs to be kept excluded. Even before a case is committed to the Court of Sessions, the Magistrate concerned is required to furnish to the accused only such contents as provided under Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure along with the statement recorded under Section 200 or 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and all such documents, produced before the Magistrate, on which the prosecution seeks to rely upon.
32. What crystallizes from the above discussion is that copy of the entire case diary cannot be made available to an accused nor can certified copies of the contents of a case diary can be made available to an accused inasmuch as case diary is not a public document and has to be, on completion of investigation, retained in the custody of the Court. This apart, confession of an accused, made under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, cannot be made available to an accused except that part of the statement, confessional or otherwise, which prosecution seeks to use under Section 27 of the Evidence Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.187 of 2014 (8) dt.14-05-2014 24 Act, 1872.
33. In the case at hand, certified copy of the confession of the two accused, recorded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, have been furnished to the petitioner, This is wholly impermissible in law and the learned Court below shall ensure that such a breach of law does not take place in future.
34. With the above observations and directions with regard to the confidentiality, which stands attached to a case diary, under the scheme of the Code of Criminal Procedure, this writ petition is disposed of on being withdrawn by the petitioner with liberty granted to the petitioner to approach this Court, in future, if so advised, with appropriate application and also to take recourse to such provisions of law as may be permissible.
35. Registrar General is directed to circulate a copy of this order to all the District Judges of the State of Bihar in order to ensure what have been observed and directed above be followed.
(I. A. Ansari, J.) (Samarendra Pratap Singh, J.) Prabhakar Anand/ AFR