Whether a statement of a witness recorded U/S 164 of CRPC is a public document?

  A statement recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C. is a public document within the meaning of Section 74(iii) of the Evidence Act as held by a Full Bench of this Court in State of Madras v. Krishnan, [(1960) 73 LW 713 : AIR 1961 Mad 92]. The original of the statement, which would form part and parcel of the Court records, is a primary evidence under Section 62 of the Evidence Act for proving the fact that the said witness had appeared before the Magistrate on the date found thereon and had given a statement, but, it does not prove the veracity of its contents.{Para 59}

In the High Court of Madras

(Before Indira Banerjee, C.J. and P.N. Prakash, J.)

Murugasamy  Vs  State 

CRl. O.P. No. 12148 of 2017

Decided on September 15, 2017, [Reserved on: 01.08.2017]

Citation: 2017 SCC OnLine Mad 37658 : (2017) 2 LW (Cri) 345 : (2017) 5 CTC 561 : (2017) 180 AIC (Sum 22) 10

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