ABSTRACT

Witness testimony is one of the most reliable pieces of the evidence, and, in this sense, the improvisation of evidence becomes a critical legal and ethical problem in legal proceedings. This dissertation explores the judicial uptake of improvised witness testimonies in India, probing their legality and implications for fair trials and judicial integrity. Using a doctrinal research methodology, the article analyses statutory provisions, judicial precedents, and comparative legal frameworks from jurisdictions such as the UK and USA.

The paper explores the evidential worth of improvised statements as recognized by the Indian laws. It studies landmark Supreme Court decisions that have guided the judicial approach to witness credibility and explores structural factors that promote testimony improvisation, including witness intimidation and lapses in procedure. In addition, the study examines the effectiveness of witness protection mechanisms, the role of technology in uncovering contradictions, and the ethical challenges for courts in determining cases built on altered evidence.

Recommendations for legal reforms, stronger witness protection, and forensic technology in light of key findings emphasizing the importance of setting higher standards for protecting evidence against manipulation. Irrespective of the court of law and avoid a confrontational approach, if not addressed would lead to lack of witness cooperation hence reflects a need towards the striking a balance between witness rights and efficiency in system and at the same time to ensure that core principle of justice is not lost in the process by having an effective and strong framework that ensures sanctity and morality of judicial process.

Background & Significance

Evidence and witness testimony are the major factors upon which a judicial decision is based in any legal system. Indeed, even the inheritance bequeathed by justice itself takes into consideration, at least from one viewpoint, the integrity, reliability, and admissibility in the court of evidence. The testimony of witnesses takes centre stage among the various forms of evidence, as it often makes a key difference in the outcome of a particular case. Witnesses will offer firsthand accounts of events, circumstances, or interactions that the courts need to reconstruct factual narratives so that legal liability can be established against a given person or group. The credibility of witness testimony is often challenged on several fronts, including memory lapses, pressures from outside, or deliberate falsification.

Witness evidence in the Indian legal system has been a powerful factor leading to certain judicial results as courts generally prefer oral testimony to circumstantial or documentary evidence in respect of matters where direct accounts of an event are available. This foundational attitude brings with it a fundamental problem, namely, how does the judiciary evaluate and filter witness statements to exclude distortions, exaggeration, and fabrication? Evidence Improvisation by the witnesses raises the question and hence becomes an area of critical study, keeping in mind that the courts have to balance carefully between inconsistencies of memory having a natural background and deliberate falsehoods.

Evolution of Witness Testimony and Evidence Law in India

This part is a detailed study of the evolution of the law and customs governing witness testimony and evidence in India. From ancient practices during the Vedic period through the introduction of the BharatiyaSakshyaAdhiniyam in 2023 and its recent judicial interpretations regarding the credibility of witnesses, the evolution of evidence law has been crucial in delivering justice in courts of law in India. Reliance on witness testimony has always been a fraught issue for courts, which have always had to confront the challenges that memory, bias, coercion,  and falsehood pose for the witness. Grasping this evolution is important to put into context the present-day legal response to witness statements and evidence improvisation.

Its importance as evidence in ancient India is well recorded in the religious and legal texts of that time. According to the Manusmriti[1], one of the oldest known legal texts. Evidence has three types: documentary evidence, witness examination, and circumstantial evidence. Among the various types of evidence, witness testimony was considered one of the most persuasive yet fragile, needing to be examined closely. The Manusmriti articulated that witnesses should be honest, impartial, and of sound moral character and laid down heavy penalties for false testimony. The message cautions against intentional falsehoods, acknowledging their potential to mislead justice. Likewise, the Yajnavalkya Smriti[2] built on those ideas by defining qualifications for witnesses and assessing their reliability as per previous conduct and credibility.

[1]Manusmriti with the Commentary of Medhatithi, ch.8, verse 3 (Ganganatha Jha trans., 1920) (Wisdom Library ed., 2024), available at https://www.wisdomlib.org

[2]Yajnavalkya Smriti (Vyavahārādhyāya), ch.5, verse 3 (Wisdom Library ed., 2024), available at https://www.wisdomlib.org.