Witness Anonymity Case Study

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Witness Anonymity: Balancing under Criminal law (Rights of Accused in Criminal Law)

Introduction
In the present times when a criminal trial is marked by hostile witnesses and protracted trials thereby defeating the ends of justice, it becomes necessary to reconsider the laws regarding witness protection in our country. The witness in a criminal trial is intimidated by the criminals resulting in ever increasing trend of witnesses turning hostile. The great thinker Bentham said that witnesses are the eyes and ear of justice. It is for this reason that when a witness is called in for deposing before the court, it is expected that he/she would depose without any fear. However, in the present times of politicization of crime and frequent in intimidation of the witnesses, the witnesses do not feel safe. It is for this reason that they would either turn hostile in the middle of a trial or may not even come forward to depose before the court. This situation is alarming for the reason that it frustrated the very purpose of a criminal trial as a criminal trial is to find out whether the charge imposed upon the accused by the prosecution is true or not, which in the absence of a true witness is compromised. In such a case the end result of the trial may be something which may not be …show more content…

State of U.P examined in detail the purpose and object of Section 162 of Cr.P.C. According to the Apex Court, the legislative intent behind this provision was to protect the accused person from police officers who would be in a position to influence the makers of such statements, and from third persons who would be inclined to make false statements before the police. This is a highly laudable objective and is truly reflective of the attempt to ensure fairness in the process of criminal investigation. Voluminous case law has built up on these two sections over several years, the effect of which has been to underline the following legal

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