Witness given up in 498a case

[Govind singh]

Dear Sir,

In my 498a case, the father and brother of my Wife, who gave statements to police under CrPC161, have given up as witness in the court, their statements being unnecessary, as stated by APP to Court. Before this, the other PWs (including my wife and her mother) who appeared from my wife’s side, they couldn’t stand most of the questions posed to them during cross-examination and mostly replied that they don’t remember the asked details.

My queries are:-

1. Is it permissible in law that persons who are in blood relation and based on whose testimony the final report/challan was submitted in Court leading to institution of the case u/s 498a/406/34 against us, can these family members/persons give up from appearing in Court as witnesses?

2. Can such persons who gave up as witness in Court be compelled by respondents (us) to appear and depose?

3. Is there any law/ruling/case law by SC citing which such persons who gave up as witness in criminal case be made to appear and depose or is there any provision for penalty/fine for such persons for misleading the criminal justice machinery?

4. Is singed statement given to police under CrPC 161 holds more weight than unsigned statement?
Thank you very much.

Best regards,
Govind

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

It is for the prosecution to decide whether to give up any of the prosecution witnesses, who were initially proposed to be examined. As an accused, you should rather feel happy, generally. Less number of prosecution witnesses would generally imply less evidence against you.

If any prosecution witness is dropped by the prosecution side, you can call such witness as your defence witness, if you feel such witness is going to help you.

If a person makes a false statement before the court, he can be held liable for the offence of perjury. But, giving a false statement during investigation can at best be covered under Section 182 of the IPC, which is a non-cognizable offence and which is very difficult to prove, given that Section 161 Cr.P.C. cannot be signed.

Signed statement of a witness is not permissible under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Instead of the signed statement having more weight than an unsigned statement, the signed statement may in fact be invalid since it is not permissible under Section 161 Cr.P.C.

     

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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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