Right against Self-Incrimination: an Analysis & Detailed Study of Laws Prevailing In India

Abstract

The right to self-incrimination first appears in medieval Roman church law in the Latin maxim ‘Nemon tenetur seipsum accusare’ which means ‘no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.’ This provision is contained in Part III of the Constitution of India under article 20 (3). It embodies the general principles of American and Britain jurisprudence that no one shall be compelled to confer the testimony which may expose him to prosecution for crime. However, the cardinal principle of criminal law which is really the bed rock of UK jurisprudence is that an accused must be presumed to be innocent till the contrary is proved and it would be the duty of the prosecution to prove the offence. The accused has not required to make any admission or statement against his own free will. The 5th amendment of the American Constitution declares that "no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." The fundamental rule of criminal jurisprudence against self-incrimination which has been taken up to a rule of the constitutional law in article 20 (3) and a confessional statement of the accused found to be involuntary is hit by article 20 (3) of the Constitution of India. This guarantee supplements to any person who is accused of an offence and prohibits all kinds of compulsions to construct him a witness against himself. Volume 2 – Issue 1 Journal of Multi-Disciplinary Legal Research ISSN: 2582-9947