BSA 2023ACTIVE FRAMEWORKChapter III

Section 23

Confession to Police Officer

Of Admissions

Quick Legal SummaryIEA IEA S.25

Statutory Snapshot

THE STATUTE

Original Text

No confession made to a police officer shall be proved as against a person accused of any offence.

Legal Commentary

BSA Section 23 is textually identical to IEA Section 25 — the absolute bar on police confessions is preserved without any modification. This was a politically sensitive decision: there were proposals to relax the bar for confessions made in the presence of a magistrate or on video, but the final BSA retains the absolute rule. The Section 26 discovery exception (BSA's counterpart to IEA Section 27) is also preserved unchanged. All case law under IEA Section 25 — including Deoman Upadhyaya (constitutionality), Dagdu (magistrate exception), and the NCB/customs officer jurisprudence — applies directly under BSA Section 23.

Legislative Intent & Background

Preserved from IEA Section 25.

Critical Provisions & Changes

BSA Section 23 is textually identical to IEA Section 25.

Renumbered from S.25 to S.23.

Absolute bar maintained — no video confession, magistrate-supervised confession, or other exception introduced.

Landmark Judicial Precedents

State of U.P. v. Deoman Upadhyaya (1960)

AIR 1960 SC 1125

Constitutional validity of absolute police confession bar — applies under BSA Section 23.

Practical Scenarios & Illustrations

Same as IEA Section 25 examples — BSA applies to offences on or after July 1, 2024.

Questions & Answers

No — BSA Section 23 is identical to IEA Section 25. The absolute bar on police confessions is preserved. Despite proposals to introduce a supervised video confession exception, the BSA retained the complete exclusion. Confessions made to police officers remain inadmissible against the accused under the BSA.

BSA Section 23 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) 2023 (Confession to Police Officer) directly governs how courts evaluate and admit evidence in civil and criminal proceedings. BSA Section 23 is textually identical to IEA Section 25 — the absolute bar on police confessions is preserved without any modification. This was a politically sensitive decision: there were proposals to relax the bar for confessions made in the presence of a magistrate or on video, but the final BSA... Advocates must ensure that evidence sought to be relied upon satisfies the conditions prescribed by this provision, failing which it may be excluded or accorded lesser weight by the court.