Firstly, note that a witness is required to remain present in the court himself for examination. Nobody else can appear for him if he has expired. Of course, if such witness was a formal witness (such as for just producing some documents), then sometimes another person may do the same thing in court, i.e., for example for producing such documents if he is familiar with them and can authenticate them.
Secondly, for production of your defence documents, you could have tried to produce such documents at the time of cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses, wherever relevant.
Thirdly, you can try to produce these documents under Section 294 of the Criminal Procedure Code, asking the opposite party, i.e., the prosecution, to admit or deny the same. If the prosecution admits those documents, then there is no need for producing them through any defence witness and such admitted documents are taken on record straightaway.
Fourthly, your defence documents can be produced through any other defence witness also (other than the accused persons) provided they are familiar with them and can authenticate them. For example, for hospital bills, etc., someone from the accounts section of the hospital can produce them as a defence witness.
Lastly, if you or any other accused person produces such defence documents in the court as a defence witness, then the prosecution will get a chance to cross-examine. No examination of a witness is considered to be complete without cross-examination.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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