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State of Madhya Pradesh - Section

Section 73 in Criminal Courts - Rules and Orders

73.

(1)The recording of a confession under Section 164 of the Code is a matter which requires the utmost care. In many cases a confession is the mainspring of the prosecution case. The Courts are vigilant in seeing that a confession is relevant under Section 24 of the Indian Evidence Act, and consequently any defect in the procedure of recording a confession giving rise to any suspicion as to its relevancy may be fatal to a case and may lead to considerable waste of public money and the time of officers engaged in the investigation, prosecution and trial of the case. A perusal of any standard commentary on the Indian Evidence Act or the Code will indicate both the care with which the Courts scrutinize the circumstances in which a confession was recorded and the defects in procedure such scrutiny often reveals. The wording of Section 24 of the Indian Evidence Act is wide and should be carefully studied. It is sufficient to make a confession irrelevant if it is made because of coercion on inducement proceeding from a person in authority sufficient to give grounds which appear to the accused reasonable for supposing that he would gain an advantage. The frequency with which confessions are retracted on the ground that they were not free and voluntary renders it essential that a confession be recorded in circumstances which prevent any suggestion that the accused was under the influence of any person interested in obtaining the confession.
(2)The instructions given below, if carefully followed, will normally provide material for a decision whether a confession was in fact free and voluntary. But the Magistrate may take such further precautions as he considers necessary to permit him conscientiously to sign the memorandum referred to in Section 164 of the Code. In particular the special form prescribed for recording confessions (Schedule V, No. 189) reproduced at the end of this sub-rule should be used carefully and conscientiously and the Magistrate should not consider himself necessarily restricted to the questions printed therein.While however the Magistrate is bound to use the utmost care in the matter he should be careful not to discourage the making of a confession which the accused genuinely desires to make.Form of proceedings preliminary to recording a confession(The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, Section 164)Present Shri.................................First ClassMagistrate,................................. The Second Class, empowered under Section 164 accused person............... son of........... is produced at...... a.m./p.m. this....... day of..... 20......, by police officer................The following police papers, showing that the accused was arrested at.......... a.m./p.m. on the......... day of....... at......... tahsil......... miles from........, where the Court is sitting, are produced and read:-..................................To give the accused time to think over his confession away from all police influence, and to keep the police who arrested him or investigated the case away from this proceeding, I order:-First Class,Magistrate...........................................................Second Class, empowered under Section 164.The accused....... being further present at...... a.m./p.m. this....... day of......,20......, in the custody of..... the following preliminary questions are put to him to ascertain whether he is acting voluntarily in offering to make a confession:-
Q. Do you understand that I am a Magistrate and that what you saymay be used against you? A
Q. Do you understand that you need say nothing unless you arefreely wish to? A
Q. Do you wish to say anything? A
Q. Where did the police first question you? What day was it andwhat time? A
Q. Where did the police arrest you? What day was it and whattime? A
{||-| The Magistrate shall ascertain by further questioning whetherthe accused is acting voluntarily and whether the confessionwhich he is about to make is the result of any||-| (A) Threat,||-| (B) Inducement, or||-| (C) Promise you?||-
from a police officer or other person in authority which wouldrender it irrelevant under Section 24 of the Indian Evidence Act.The questions and replies thereto shall be recorded below:- Printed in red ink in the Form
This statement was made in my presence and hearing. The record contains a full and true account of the questions put to the accused and of the answers given by him. It was read over to him and admitted by him to be correct.
Dated the...... 20.... Magistrate ..... Class.
Being satisfied for the reasons stated below that the confession if recorded will not be/be irrelevant under the provisions of Section 24, Indian Evidence Act, I proceed to record it. I drop these proceedings and direct that the accused be disposed of as follow:-Reasons-First Class,Magistrate........................................................Second Class, empowered under Section 164.Dated the............20,Confession of Accused(The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 Section 164)
.................. ............versus.............. .................
Accused................ son of................. age.......... occupation............ residence................[The record should be by questioning and answer.]
Note - If the confession extends beyond this sheet theabove certificate and the matter required by paragraph (4) of itmust be recorded at the end. Printed in red ink in the Form
Note - See Certificate overleaf.  
(Reverse)Certified that the accused began his confession recorded above at............ O, clock and ended it at........ O, clock. Instruction to the Magistrate:-
1. The Magistrate shall read over the confession as recorded tothe accused.  
2. The Magistrate shall obtain the signature of the accused atthe foot of the confession.  
3. The Magistrate shall also put his own signature at the foot ofthe confession.  
4. The Magistrate shall refer to sub-section (3) of Section 164,Criminal Procedure Code, and if satisfied, make a memorandum inthe terms stated in sub-section (3) at the foot of theconfession. Printed in red ink in the Form
5. Any other facts which go to show that the confession was madevoluntarily may be recorded by the Magistrate at foot of theconfession.  
6. The Magistrate shall give below a brief description of thecustody in which the accused was kept while recording theconfession.  
First Class,Magistrate........................................................Second Class, empowered under Section 164.