witness protection in india research paper

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Towards a witness centric approach: analysis of witness protection scheme, 2018

• Published: 13 February 2021
• Volume 75 , pages 433–444, ( 2021 )

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• Shankey Verma   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2833-1840 1 &
• Akshaya Krishnakumar   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9867-7594 2  

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Legislation on witness protection was long overdue in India. In the wake of several incidents of attacks on witnesses, the Supreme Court of India directed the Centre to formulate a scheme to safeguard the interests of witnesses. On December 5, 2018, the Supreme Court approved the Witness Protection Scheme submitted to it by the Centre. It directed all the states and union territories to formulate legislation regarding the same. While few states adopted the scheme in its letter and spirit, many have not taken any step in this regard. The paper aims to critically examine the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018 by discussing the major provisions and looking at various challenges to its implementation. On examining the provisions of the scheme carefully, the authors found that the majority of the provisions in the scheme provided a framework for protection of witnesses from threats and intimidation. However, there are some areas that the scheme failed to address including online intimidation, issues of funding, maintain police force balance, mental well-being of witnesses, and interests of vulnerable witnesses. Several recommendations are provided that can be adopted to make the scheme more witness centric.

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Acknowledgements

Our sincere thanks to Ms. Poulomi Bhadra, Assistant Professor, Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences for proofreading the manuscript.

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Verma, S., Krishnakumar, A. Towards a witness centric approach: analysis of witness protection scheme, 2018. Crime Law Soc Change 75 , 433–444 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-021-09942-5

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Published : 13 February 2021

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-021-09942-5

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International Journal of Legal Science & Innovation

[issn 2581 – 9453].

Witness Protection in India: A Fundamental Need in Criminal Justice System

• Yash Saxena ,
• Simran Agarwal and Shaina
• Show Author Details

Yash Saxena

Student at Bharati Vidyapeeth New Law College, Pune, India

Simran Agarwal

Student at University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun

Student at Chandigarh University, Punjab, India

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The establishment of the judicial system is based on the fact that witnesses are not afraid, partial, and not intimidated or urged by the court. If witnesses are fired out of fear or intimidation, or out of grace or urge, then the foundation of justice will not only be weakened, it may even be eliminated. The public interest in due justice is as important as the defendant's personal interest, and even more important. In this regard, one can refer to the statement of the Supreme Court in Zahira Habibullah Sheikh, in which the court pointed out the importance of the role of witnesses in criminal trials. Therefore, there is a great need to protect witnesses and expand their power in the criminal justice system, especially those who fight against well-known and closely related influential defendants. Sometimes the witness is humiliated by the court, and the defendant or his followers or family members are petrified, and sometimes it may cause the witness to commit suicide. All this happened because India’s witness protection mechanism is very weak, and there is no protection for witnesses in such incidents. If this happens, witnesses may lose confidence in the criminal justice system. Therefore, they hesitate or fear to come forward to testify. In this article, I want to focus on the problems faced by witnesses, the mechanisms for protecting witnesses, and the protection of their family members.

• Witness Protection
• Criminal Justice System

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International Journal of Legal Science and Innovation, Volume 3, Issue 4, Page 297 - 304

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WITNESS PROTECTION IN INDIA: THE JUDICIAL ENDEAVOUR.

A criminal case is built upon edifice of evidence including witnesses whether it is direct evidence or circumstantial evidence. Many developed countries across the globe provides for the witness protection laws but woefully in India, there is no such legislation framed with regard to this issue. It is due to lack of such legislation that the witnesses are under precarious situation. In numerous cases the judiciary played the constructive role to provide different means and methods to the protection of witnesses which lead to the significant amount of encouragement to establish Witness Protection Programs in India.

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According to Bentham, witnesses are the eyes and ears of justice. Witnessing turning hostile in high-profile cases is a common phenomenon during trial procedures in India. Conducting a fair trial is a cardinal principle of criminal procedure to ensure justice for both the accused and the victim. India is a country where the accusatorial system is being followed, and the prosecution itself claims it will be an independent umpire. In such a situation, independent witnesses play an important role in imparting a fair trial to the victim. The witness should be treated as a guest, but our system continually neglects and insults them without thinking twice. However, giving testimony before a court of law is a fundamental right under article 21 of the Indian constitution. The threat, criminal intimidation, and other external pressure compel the victim and witness to turn hostile, thereby making a mockery of justice. An independent and impartial witness himself was forced to consider his life being ruined because he witnessed a crime. The need for a comprehensive witness protection program has been emphasised in many law commissions report. There are certain provisions in special and general statutes which is favourable to witnesses though cant be considered as protection in the strict sense. There is no law to address the issues of witnesses holistically. However Witness protection bill of 2015 failed to secure a minimum vote to become an Act, and .in 2020, a victim and witness protection and assistance bill was introduced in the council of states till now, no Act was passed. Supreme Court in MahenderChawla v Union of India approved the Witness protection scheme 2018 to protect the witness. But the scheme suffers from lacunae. The paper mainly focuses on the evolution of witness protection jurisprudence in India. The article also examines the reasons witnesses turn hostile and its impact on criminal trials in India. Furthermore, the article critically analyses the effectiveness of the witness protection scheme, 2018, to curb the incidents of witnesses turning hostile and how it affected conviction rates in India. Finally, the paper also highlights the need for comprehensive legislation to protect the witness.

harsh khandelwal

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The Indian Judicial system has been so hard to deal with the problem of witness protection but since there is an absence of such legislation witnesses is not getting that protection as and when needed. Present circumstances are such that it is not being able to provide protection to them. Presently, the vulnerability of the witnesses is very prominent. Provisions in the existing laws are inadequate to meet the need of time. Now-a-days reporting of unceremonious acquittals in sensational criminal cases is on the rise. Most of them are on account of defection of loyalty of witnesses. As there is every chance of manipulating the witnesses and putting them under coercion a strict law is required to be made for the protection of those witnesses. This article will analyse the steps taken by legislature and judiciary for the witness protection and there implementation in society as per law.

International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology

International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology IJSRST

Legal mechanism safeguards the interest of victims and of witnessses who made themselves available for the effective and efficient administration of Criminal Justice System. Victims sets in motion the process for prosecuting the accused and thereafter witnesses take lead to assist in the later stage of the prosecution. Need for the protective safeguards to the victim and witness is due to the rise in atrocities by the scaremongers who are in the position to influence them with an intent to suppress and overpower them. It is contended that the safety be extended not only to the immediate victim or the witness but to their family members, near- ones and any person associated to them. The court proceeding often are the daunting episodes in the life of victims and witness, they being important part of the Criminal Justice System has to be handled in a way during the process that may not hamper their will to proceed further in the process.

NALSAR Student Law Review

Shantanu Pachauri , Eesha Shrotriya

In the criminal justice system, witnesses and their testimonies play a decisive role in reaching the conclusion of the case. Witnesses, being the most crucial participants in the procedure, are often threatened or induced by the parties involved in the case to change or retract their statements. Thus, cases do not reach a truthful and rational conclusion. The judicial machinery fails the victims in their quest for justice. The rights given to witnesses and victims are quite limited in comparison to the wide range of rights of the accused. Therefore, protecting the witnesses becomes indispensable for achieving the foremost objective of the criminal justice system. The authors propose a possible model for a witness protection programme in India, keeping in mind such programmes existing across the globe. https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/nalsul12&div=9&id=&page=

International Journal of Membrane Science and Technology

zahid parwez

Witnesses are the eyes and ears of the Criminal Justice System. Witnesses being the only spectator of an offence are the indispensable aid in the Criminal Justice Delivery System but are yet at a vulnerable position that they turn victims at several instances. Starting from the investigation stage to the trial proceedings of the court witness assist the Court in every possible way to punish the accused person by deposing every relevant fact which can lead to a fair justice delivery and conviction of the accused person without getting any gain. Witnesses are often subjected to threatening, inducement, harassment, and different kinds of intimidation to them and also their family members. Due to this, in many cases due to lack of Witness Protection Laws the witnesses not getting adequate protection they become victims. Unlike the accused, the witnesses or victims have no rights for their protection. And when the state agencies fail to do their duty, as has often happened in many cases ...

Dilshani Yapa

— The term " witness " refers to persons who give (testimonial) evidence, so they include experts and victims. Witness protection is a core mechanism in criminal justice proceedings that can help States to bring criminals to justice, especially in cases of organized crime and terrorism. Recently threats against witnesses and their families, torturing and abduction of victims to withdraw their cases from political party leaders, members of the security forces or other armed groups, as well as from influential individuals, have become shocking news as a result of being a witness. Hence these incidents have proven to be serious threats in championing fundamental rights of the citizens. Meanwhile one of the major obstacles that prevent cases especially human rights violations from being successfully prosecuted in courts in most countries in the Asian region due to the lack of an effective legal framework for the protection of witnesses has become an overwhelming tragedy. The reason behind is that not all countries have formal witness protection mechanism; instead, local police may implement informal protection as the need arises in specific cases. On this back drop this paper seeks to address this issue on human rights perspective and as well as on legal basis. Accordingly the UNTOC(Articles 24-25) and the UNCAC both contain provisions relating to the need to protect witnesses and other persons from potential retaliation or intimidation with respect to the giving of testimony. Also there are many other Conventions, such as those relating to human rights, that touch up the need to protect victims and witnesses such as European Convention on Human Rights (Article 6 of the Convention) Thus the primary objective of this paper is firstly to clarify why witness protection measures are important for the effective functioning of criminal justice systems of a country and how to lead it as a key tool in addressing serious and organized crime in an effective manner. Other objectives are to seek the main components of a legal frame to protect witness protection and provide some recommendations for the existing laws in order to enhance its productivity. The research methodology is based on the explorative research design. Researcher adopts the legal research methodology mainly a library based secondary data review. Therefore the research outcome will emphasize the fact that, since the absence of a witness protection mechanism has made victims and witnesses vulnerable to threats and intimidation and has also endangered the work of all those who speak out against abuses, effective and impartial witness protection mechanisms are an essential component of functioning rule of law systems in Asia and without which the protection of human rights is rendered impossible.

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Think India

Prashant Rahangdale

The efficacy of criminal justice administration can be adjudged by the ability of courts to punish the wrongdoer and impart justice to the victim. During the process of finding the guilt, courts rely upon the evidence adduced by the parties in the oral or documentary form. The oral evidence is submitted by the means of versions of witnesses. Witness act as a valuable source of information for the courts to bring out the guilt of the accused. The versions of witness facilitate the courts to arrive at a judicious decision. Therefore, the witness plays a prominent role in criminal justice administration. For this reason, Whittaker Chambers said, “In search of truth, he plays that sacred role of the sun, which eliminates the darkness of ignorance and illuminates the face of justice, encircled by devils of humanity and compassion.”[1] However, it is a bitter truth that the condition of witnesses is turning pathetic in the justice administration system day by day. The reports of inducemen...

Indonesian Journal of Law and Society

Md Khalid Rahman

The testimony of the witness is regarded as the primary evidence by the court when convicting someone under criminal law. Consequently, the accused makes the witness their major target in an effort to disrupt a fair trial, which makes the witness uninterested in supporting the allegation. However, Bangladesh does not currently have a law specifically addressing witness protection, while the need for such a law is growing, and the concerned parties and the court are urging the government to do so. This paper aims to show that the witness protection statute significantly influences the reduction of criminal case backlogs. To investigate the aforementioned argument, the writers have considered the witness protection law and the backlog in criminal cases. Besides, this research emphasizes the necessity for effective witness protection measures by drafting thorough criminal legislation in Bangladesh. The authors applied the quantitative approach using a systematic questionnaire to conduct a survey of 271 respondents, who were chosen by the researchers to comprehensively understand the necessity for witness protection laws and how they relate to the backlog of criminal cases to substantiate the paper's argument. Witness testimony is important evidence, yet the law of our country makes no separate anticipation of witness protection. Occasionally, witnesses are threatened, which makes them unwilling to testify honestly and obstructs the delivery of impartial justice. Besides, witnesses decide not to testify because they fear being marked out in the future. Consequently, every day that the case is unresolved adds to the backlog at the court. Only when separate laws were to be created for the witnesses would it benefit the witnesses and reduce backlogs.

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Witness Protection: A Comparative Analysis of Indian and Australian Legislation

Journal of the Gujarat Research Society Volume 21 Issue 3, 2019

9 Pages Posted: 12 Feb 2020

Prashant Rahangdale

Amity Law School, Amity University Chhattisgarh; Amity University - Amity Law School

Date Written: October 1, 2019

Witness plays a very important role in the criminal justice system. The outcome of any trial is based on the testimony witness. Without his assistance Court could not sumup with a judicious decision. However, it has been seen in various instances that witnesses turn hostile during the course of a trial. The main reason behind hostility is that the witness is threatened and being pressurized by the accused or his family members to offer testimony in his/her favour. This has turned to a miscarriage of justice. Therefore, there is a need to adopt a proper and effective witness protection policy in the country. In light of the above issue, the Central government had notified a Scheme called Witness Protection Scheme, 2018. Although the scheme was adopted in full enthusiasm and zeal it has not served its purpose. There are various countries like USA, UK, Australia, Germany, Canada, etc. who have incorporated witness protection program in their domestic laws. The witness protection program in Australia is serving its objective by providing protection to the witness in their country. This research paper is based on a comparative study of the witness protection program in India and Australia to identify the possible outcome.

Keywords: Witness protection, hostility, Identity protection, Witness anonymity

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Prashant Rahangdale (Contact Author)

Amity university - amity law school ( email ).

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Research Paper | Law | India | Volume 12 Issue 5, May 2023 | Rating: 5.1 / 10

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The Concept and History of Witness Protection Act in India

Uday Shankar M --> Uday Shankar M

Abstract: According to Jeremy Bentham, ?Witness is the eyes and ears of Justice?. Protection of witnesses from intimidation or harm in the form of security arrangements is imperative to the integrity and success of any judicial process. [Chris Mahony, The Justice Sector Afterthought: Witness Protection in Africa (Institute of Security Studies Pretoria 2010)] Without adequate witness protection systems in place there are injustices meted out both to the victims and the state, as many witnesses out of fear of speaking the truth or on the fear of repercussions do not come to depose before the court, leading to miscarriage of justice. Right from ancient times India has given the witnesses their due respect by acknowledging their contribution to prosecution by praising them in smritis and artashastras. However, unlike other countries of the world, India still does not have a witness protection Act enacted by law to protect and safeguard the interests of the witnesses. This paper aims to provide insights on the history of Witness Protection in India, if any and its effectiveness in the current day scenario. The authors rely on secondary sources of data in this paper and try to conclude by pressing for an independent Act which would protect the witnesses under the criminal justice system.

Keywords: Witness Protection in India, Criminal Justice system in India, Sources of witness protection in India, Law, India, Justice, Safeguard to witnesses, Victims and State

Edition: Volume 12 Issue 5, May 2023

Pages: 437 - 439

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Text copied to Clipboard! Uday Shankar M, " The Concept and History of Witness Protection Act in India ", International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Volume 12 Issue 5, May 2023, pp. 437-439, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR23504205504

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