INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT, 1872
BHARATIYA SAKSHYA ADHINIYAM, 2023
26. Confession by accused while in custody of Police not to be proved against him.
23. Confession to police officer.
changed or removed in old law
changed or added in new law
Similar wording stays plain; only differences are highlighted.
IEA Section 26 is incorporated into BSA Section 23.
INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT, 1872
26. Confession by accused while in custody of police not to be proved against him.––No
confession made by any person whilst he is in the custody of a police-officer, unless it be made in the
immediate presence of a Magistrate4, shall be proved as against such person.
5
[Explanation.––In this section “Magistrate” does not include the head of a village discharging
magisterial functions in the Presidency of Fort St. George 6*** or elsewhere, unless such headman is a
Magistrate exercising the powers of a Magistrate under the Code of Criminal Procedure,
18827 (10 of 1882).]
Repealed / replaced by BSA India Code — IEA 1872
BHARATIYA SAKSHYA ADHINIYAM, 2023
23. Confession to police officer.—(1) No confession made to a police officer shall be proved as
against a person accused of any offence.
(2) No confession made by any person while he is in the custody of a police officer, unless it is made
in the immediate presence of a Magistrate shall be proved against him:
Provided that when any fact is deposed to as discovered in consequence of information received from
a person accused of any offence, in the custody of a police officer, so much of such information, whether
it amounts to a confession or not, as relates distinctly to the fact discovered, may be proved.
19
Current law India Code — BSA 2023