The word ‘confession’ is not defined under Indian Evidence Act.Lord Atkin has defined confession in the case ‘ Pakala narayan swami v.Emperor’ ,under which the court held that ‘a confession must either admit in terms of offence or at any rate substantially all the facts which constitute the offence.’If a statement made by accused does not contain direct admission in terms of commission of offence, it will not be considered as a confession.
Types of confession :- There are two types of confessions under Indian Evidence Act,they are :-
Judicial Confession – in due course of judicial proceedings,confessions made before Magistrate or in Court.They are presumed to be correct and true record and considered to be a substantive piece of evidence.Under judicial confession-
- the person to whom it is made need not be called as a witness.
- it can be relied as proof of guilt against the accused person if it appears to the court to be voluntary and true.
- conviction may be based on it.
Extra Judicial Confession -confession where the accused admits his guilt to any person other than the Court or a Magistrate.Extra judicial confession can be proved by either-
- orally examining the person to whom Confession is made.
- if it’s in writing, by inspecting the document in which the confession is recorded.
- by calling as witness the person before whom the extra judicial confession was made.
- it alone cannot be relied upon,it needs support of other supporting evidence.
- it is unsafe to base conviction upon it.
