The Indian Supreme Court recently demanded an investigation into a case involving the alleged tutoring of witnesses by police officers. According to the case information, the highest court in India mandated the Chief of Police in Tamil Nadu to probe the issue and necessitate disciplinary action against those implicated. The shocking case was brought to light during the review of an appeal against life sentences handed to appellants for a murder charge.
An essential part of the appeal came to light when key witnesses, who had testified about an attack where the appellants supposedly assailed the deceased, were found to have been influenced by the police a day prior to recording their testimonies in court. Upon the revelation, it came into question whether the testimony of these witnesses could be deemed as reliable, leading to the court determining that their testimonies were tainted.
Besides, the court expressed concern over the prosecution’s choice not to call upon independent witnesses further raising the level of doubt on the case’s integrity. With the mounting questions about the case, the court moved to acquit the appellants, effectively overturning the convictions. Moreover, they command an examination into the conduct of the police officers involved with the coaching of witnesses, underlining the urgency for suitable disciplinary action.
During the proceedings, the court stated: “One can reasonably imagine the effect of ‘teaching’ the witnesses inside a Police Station. This is a blatant act by the police to tutor the material prosecution witnesses… This kind of interference by the Police with the judicial process, to say the least, is shocking. This amounts to gross misuse of power by the Police machinery.”
Section 193 of the Indian Penal Code specifies the legal consequences for delivering false evidence. It denotes that intentionally offering false affidavit in a judicial proceeding or forging false evidence for use at any stage of such a proceeding can lead to imprisonment of up to seven years, supplemented with a hefty fine.
Read more details on the original report.