Can an illegally procured evidence be admissible?

Can an illegally procured evidence be admissible?

Under the Indian Evidence Law regime, an illegally obtained evidence is admissible in the Court if it is ‘relevant’ to the case and the admission of such evidence has not been expressly or impliedly barred by the Constitution or any other law (2).

When can illegally obtained evidence still be admissible?

16.77 Section 138(1) provides that, in civil and criminal proceedings, evidence that was obtained improperly or illegally ‘is not to be admitted unless the desirability of admitting the evidence outweighs the undesirability of admitting evidence’ given the manner in which it was obtained.

What kind of evidence is not admissible in court?

hearsay
Evidence that can not be presented to the jury or decision maker for any of a variety of reasons: it was improperly obtained, it is prejudicial (the prejudicial value outweighs the probative value), it is hearsay, it is not relevant to the case, etc.

Can stolen evidence be used in a court of law?

Evidence that is illegally obtained is usually not going to be able to be used against the defendant in a criminal case. However, sometimes, a defendant or their attorney will think that the evidence was obtained illegally but the prosecutor and the police will make the argument that the evidence was legally obtained.

Can courts admit evidence which has been obtained illegally or improperly?

The Court observed in Malkani : “There is warrant for the proposition that even if evidence is illegally obtained it is admissible. The Judicial Committee held that the evidence was rightly admitted. The reason given was that if evidence was admissible it matters not how it was obtained.

What is an example of illegally obtained evidence?

Evidence that is illegally obtained is usually not going to be able to be used against the defendant in a criminal case. One example is a statement illegally obtained from a defendant where someone was arrested, put in the back of a police car, and then asked questions without being read their Miranda rights.

What does illegally obtained evidence mean?

What is illegally obtained evidence? Evidence that has been obtained illegally can include: Any evidence arising from an unlawful search of a person, their car or their home. Conversations between individuals recorded without the knowledge and/or consent of both where is no valid warrant.

How is evidence admissible in court?

The first principle of admissibility is that the evidence must be relevant. To be relevant, evidence must tend to prove a fact in issue, or must go to the credibility of a witness. Admissible evidence may be heard and considered by the magistrate, judge or jury deciding the case.

What makes some evidence inadmissible?

“Written or oral statements, or communicative conduct made by persons otherwise than in testimony at the proceeding in which it is offered, are inadmissible, if such statements or conduct are tendered either as proof of their truth or as proof of assertions implicit therein.”

What constitutes illegally obtained evidence?

Evidence obtained indirectly from illegal activity For example, if a defendant is arrested illegally, the government may not use fingerprints taken while the defendant was in custody as evidence. Evidence seized during a search, where the probable cause for the search was illegally obtained evidence.

Does the judge have the discretion to exclude evidence that has been illegally obtained?

In general, there is no rule of law that evidence obtained illegally (or improperly) must, for the purpose of proving a civil claim, be excluded. The courts have made it clear that they are more concerned with establishing the truth rather than applying a mechanistic rule.