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RELEVANT AND IRRELEVANT CONFESSION

A confession must either admit in terms the offence or at any rate substantially all the facts
which constitute the offence. An admission of a gravely incriminating fact, even a conclusively
incriminating fact is not in itself a confession. Section 30 of the Indian Evidence Act states that
Confession made by one or two more accuse jointly tried for the same offence can be taken into
consideration against the co- accused. Judicial confession is that confession which is made
before the magistrate or in court in the due course of legal proceedings. A judicial confession has
been defined to mean plea of guilty on arrangement (made before the court) if made freely by
the person in a fit state of mind. Value of judicial confession is a case where there is no proof of
corpus delicti must be distinguished from another where that is proved. In the absence of the
corpus delicti a confession alone may not suffice to justify conviction. Now the settled law is that
a conviction can be based on confession only if it is proved to be voluntary and true. If
corroboration is needed it is enough that the general trend of the confession is substantiated by
some evidence which would tally with the content of the confession. The evidence of extrajudicial confession is a weak piece of evidence. The extra-judicial confession must be received
with great case and caution. There being no record and there being no sanction behind it is very
easy for the prosecution to catch hold of any witness who may come and depose that the accused
admitted his guilt in his presence on some particular time. A confession is otherwise relevant, it
does not become irrelevant merely because it was made under a promise of secrecy, or in
consequence of deception practiced on the accused person for the purpose of obtaining it, or
when he was drunk, or because it was made in answer to question which he need not have
answered, whatever may have been the form of those question, because he was not warned that
he was not bound to make such confession, and that evidence if it might be given against him.
KEY WORDS
Principle Underlying, Inducement, Threat, Police custody, Confessional Fir, Extra-Judicial

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