Law: Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898)

Section: 164(3)

Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898) S. 164(3) and High Court Rules and Orders (Lahore), Vol. III, Chap. XIII-Confession, recording of-Duty of Magistrate and procedure explained. The language of subsection (3) of section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure does not admit of any ambiguity. It is a mandatory provision of law, which requires that a warning should be given before recording of the confession. It obviously means that the warning is to be given before the commencement of the recording of the confession. It will be mean ingless warning if it is given half an hour or an hour or a few hours earlier. The very object will be frustrated if the warning is not given at the commencement of the recording of the confession. As soon as a person is produced before a Magistrate for getting his confession recorded, his handcuffs should be removed and all the police others shall be turned out of the Court room, and he should be informed that he was before a Magistrate and that whether he made any statement or not, he will not be handed back to the police, but will be sent to the judicial lock-up. He should then be given sufficient time to ponder over the matter. Then he should be warned that he was not bound to make any statement and if he did so, it may be used as evidence against him and then the following questions should be put to him (1) For how long have you been with the police? (2) Has any pressure been brought to bear upon you to make a confession? (3) Have you been threatened to make a confession ? (4) Has any inducement been given to you? (5) Have you been told that you will be made an approver? (6) Why are you making this confession? Then if the Magistrate is satisfied that the prisoner is making the confession voluntarily, he should put the set questions as given in the printed form and then record the confession. It is very seldom that a culprit is produced before a Magistrate for getting his confession record ed, when the evidence for the prosecution is not otherwise strong. As such, a greater duty is cast upon a Magistrate recording a confession to be satisfied that such a confession is voluntarily made, and he must conscientiously devote his inquiry…