Who is a victim

Whether Victim can be a witness in the same case……

Who is Witness
• A witness is a person who sees crime happen and who
has the ability to express it when asked by the court.
• Under Section 118 of the Indian Evidence Act 1872,
the term witness is defined as a person who is
competent enough to understand the questions asked
by the court. Thus, according to this section, any
person can be a witness unless they are unable to
understand and answer the questions that are asked to
them.
Victim Witness Assistance
Programme
• “Victim Assistance, Support, or Services” refers to the
activities carried out in reaction to victimization with the
goal of alleviating suffering and easing recovery.
Information, assessments, individual interventions, case
advocacy, system advocacy, public policy, and program
creation are all examples of this.
Witness Victim Protection
• Effective witness protection programmes are an essential component of
a comprehensive criminal justice response to protect those who are key
to dismantling organized crime groups. Some ways of protection are:
• Legal and institutional assessments;
• Awareness raising programs targeting criminal justice authorities
(including judges, prosecutors, police and prison officials);
• Training to judges, prosecutors, police and witness protection
authorities;
• Specialized support and advice to assist in the establishment of witness
protection units, including advice on developing standard operating
procedures, appropriate structures and staffing arrangements;
• The Witness Protection Scheme in 2018, is the first legal enactment set up by
the Indian Government. The need for such an Act was due for a long time.
The Supreme Court in the State of Gujarat v. Anirudh Singh (1997) held that
it is the duty of every witness to help the State by giving evidence.
• The objective of the scheme is simple. Protect and safeguard the interests of
the witnesses in India. The Scheme further enables the witness, a police
escort to the courtroom. In worst-case scenarios, the Act divides witnesses
into three categories:
• Class A:- When the witness and his/her family members get threats to their
lives during the proceedings.
• Class B:- When the safety, reputation, and property of the witness and
his/her family members during the investigation.
• Class C:- When the threat only extends to harassment of the witness and
his/her family members during the proceedings.
Case:
• The earliest judgment that dealt with the aspect of witnesses’ protection was in the case of Naresh Shridhar
Mirajkar v. State of Maharashtra, wherein protection of publication of evidence of the witness was allowed
by the High Court and later re-affirmed by the Supreme Court as otherwise the business interests of the
witness would have been hampered.
• The most historic and relevant case that brought witness protection into focus was the Zahira Habibulla
Sheikh v. State of Gujarat. In this case, the Supreme Court decided to shift the venue of the case from Gujarat
to Maharashtra since the Court felt that the witnesses would not be able to depose their statements freely in
the said state.
• The Supreme Court reiterated “legislative measures to emphasise prohibition against tampering with witness,
victim or informant, have become the imminent and inevitable need of the day.”In Delhi Domestic Working
Women’s Forum v. Union of India, the Supreme Court emphasised the maintenance of the anonymity of the
victims of rape who would be the key witnesses in trials involving the offence of rape.
• The guidelines for witness protection laid down by the Delhi High Court in Neelam Katara v. Union of India
but they did not deal with the manner in which the identity of the witness can be kept confidential either
before or during the trial. The judgment of the Full Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Bimal
Kaur Khalsa, which provides for protection of the witness from the media, does not deal with all the aspects
of the problem.