Supreme Court Questions UP Police For Including Confession Statements Of Accused In Chargesheet, Seeks DGP's Affidavit

The Supreme Court has expressed prima facie disapproval of the inclusion of statements of the accused, which are recorded during the investigation, in the chargesheet. Some of those statements are in the nature of alleged confessional statements, the Court noted.

"We find that so called statements of the accused which are allegedly recorded during interrogation are forming part of the charge-sheet. Some of them are in the nature of alleged confessional statements. Prima facie, this is illegal," the bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan observed.

As per the Indian Evidence Act 1872 (Sections 24 to 26), confessions made by the accused in police custody are not admissible in evidence.

The Court has directed the Director General of Police of Uttar Pradesh to investigate and submit a personal affidavit regarding the practice of including statements made by the accused, including confessions made to the police, in the charge-sheet.

The Director General of Police is required to indicate whether this practice is prevalent in Uttar Pradesh. The affidavit must be filed within six weeks.

The matter will be listed for further consideration on 12.07.2024, after the affidavit has been filed.

Recently, the same bench had rebuked the Tamil Nadu police for tutoring prosecution witnesses. 

Case : Sanuj Bansal v State of UP

Click here to read the order