SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT # RECENT JUDGEMENT # “Confession” And “Statement” Under Section 164 CrPC

Should a victim or witness be sponsored by the Police for recording his or her “statement” under Section 164 (5) Cr.P.C. ?

Ans. Yes. A person who is neither an accused nor sponsored by the Police has no locus standi to apply to the Magistrate to record his statement under Section 164 Cr.P.C. In other words, a witness or a victim cannot barge into a Magistrate’s Court and request the Magistrate to record his statement under Section 164 Cr.P.C., unless he is sponsored by the Police. This is because the Magistrate should not be burdened with the additional task of recording the statements of all and sundry who may knock at the door of the Court with a request to record their statements under Section 164 Cr.P.C. Otherwise, too many persons sponsored by culprits might throng before the portals of the Magistrates’ Courts for the purpose of creating records in advance to help the culprits. (Vide paras 19, 22, 23 and 24 of Jogendra Nahak v. State of Orissa (2000) 1 SCC 272 = AIR 1999 SC 2565 – 3 Judges – K. T. Thomas, D. P. Mohapatra, U. C. Banerjee – JJ.)