All You Need to Know about Confessions and Admissions under the Evidence Law

We all know that hearsay holds a very little or no evidentiary value under the legal system, however, this is not the case for an admission or a confession. Hearsay can be defined as a statement given by a person who in a particular case is not a direct witness to the original situation but has heard the facts of the case from some other third person. So, in generic terms hearsay can be defined as a third-party evidence not having a strong evidentiary value. Admission and confession under the evidence law are an exception to the hearsay rule. 

Index-:

• Admission and confession under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872

• Admission- What does it Comply?

• Essential Characteristics of an Admission

• Parties that can make a relevant Admission

• Evidentiary Value of an Admission 

• Confession- What does it mean?

• Test to Determine whether the Statement made is a Confession or an Admission

• Difference between Admission and Confession

• Types of Confession 

• When is a Confession Considered to be Irrelevant?

• Confession before a Police Officer 

• Conclusion

Admission and Confession under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872

Admission and Confession are placed under the category of Relevant evidence in Part I, “Relevancy of Facts.” They hold a higher evidentiary value as these are the statements made by a person against his own personal interest and hence, are considered to be true. While Sections 17 -23 and Section 31 deal with the law of admission, Sections 24-30 contains the law on confession.

Admission – What does it Comply?

Admission is defined under Section 17 of the Indian Evidence Act as a statement (can be oral, documented or electronic) made by a party to the case or by any other concerned person that suggests an inference to any fact in issue or a relevant fact.  In other words, an admission refers to the voluntary acknowledgment or acceptance of certain facts or a relevant/particular fact to the case.

Essential Characteristics of an Admission

• Statement must suggest an inference towards a fact in issue or a relevant fact.
• It may be in the oral, written or electronic form.
• The contents of a document must be proved by producing the document itself and not by making oral statements. 
• It must be made by any of the persons prescribed under the Evidence act. 
• It must be made according to the relevant circumstances given under the act.

Parties that can make a Relevant Admission

The relevant sections under the Indian Evidence Act clearly lay down that who can make a valid admission. The admissions made by the following persons/parties are considered to be relevant under the evidence act-

• Parties to the Proceedings–

The statements made by the parties to the proceedings that are against their personal interest are considered to be an admission. Under this act, the term party does not include only those persons who appear on record but also those people who are a party to the suit but do not appear on record. Persons who have an interest in the subject matter but are not a party to the suit can also make an admission. 

• Agent of the Party

A statement made by an agent of the respective party which is against the interest of the said party is also considered to be an admission. However, the statement must be made by the agent during the continuity of his agency. So, in a case where the agency of the agent has come to an end, any statement made by him will not be admissible as an admission as against the principal.

• Statements made by Parties in a Representative Character

A person acting as a trustee, administrator, executor, etc. sued in a particular case in a representative character can also make an admission in a representative character but not under his personal capacity.

• Interested parties 

A statement made by a party having any kind of pecuniary, proprietary or a derivative interest in the subject matter of the case will be considered as an admission, if it is made against his personal interest. These statements must be made during the continuity of the interest. Such statements can also be used against other parties to the case having a joint interest and hence, are not restricted to only those persons making the statement.

• Persons from whom the Parties Derive Interest- 

This is relevant in case of Predecessor in title from whom the party in suit will derive his title. Any admission made by the predecessor in title will be admissible only until the title remains with him.

• Person expressly referred to in the suit-

If an express reference has been made towards a person in a suit, then the person referred to has the right to make an admission in that case.

Evidentiary Value of Admission 

• An admission is a substantial form of evidence and hence can be used to infer the truth by relying on the stipulated facts.
• An admission shifts the burden of proof onto the party against whom the statement is made. The said statement casts an imperative duty on such party to explain it. If a valid explanation is not provided, the statement is presumed to be true.
• An admission holds an evidentiary value only if it is definite, clear and certain and not ambiguous, indefinite or vague. 
• It is imperative to note that admission is not a conclusive proof and hence, can be proved to be wrong. However, they raise an estoppel and shift the onus on the person making the statement or on the interested party. Unless, these statements are explicitly proved as wrong, they are presumed to be true. They act as an important proof for the admitted facts.
• Hence, the evidentiary value of an admission is dependent upon the circumstances of each case.

Confession- What does it mean?

Confession is a type of an admission. It is pertinent to note that all confessions are admissions but all admissions are not confessions. Confession is merely a genus while admission can be said to be the species.  The word “confession” is mentioned under Section 24 of the Indian Evidence Act. The term confession is not defined under the act. The definition is provided by Mr. Justice Stephen in his Digest of Law of Evidence as, “confession is an admission made at any time by a person   charged   with   a   crime   stating   or   suggesting   the   inference   that   he committed that crime.” In other words, if a person admits that he committed some crime, then such admission is termed as confession.

Test to Determine whether the Statement made is a Confession or Admission

The basic test to determine whether a statement is a confession or an admission is that if a conviction can be based on the basis of a statement alone, then this statement is known as confession. However, if supplementary evidences are required to authorize a conviction, then such statement is defined as an admission.

This stand was upheld by the court in, Pakala Narayan Swami v Emperor, wherein the court held that, “A confession must either admit in terms the offence or at any rate substantially all the facts which constitute the offence. An admission of a gravely incriminating fact, even a conclusively incriminating fact is not in itself a confession”.

Section 24 to Section 30 under the Indian Evidence Act deals with the Concept of Confession. 

Difference between a Confession and an Admission

The following are the major differences in between a confession and an admission.

Basis	Confession	Admission
Meaning	Confession is a statement made by an accused person against his own interest which can be used against him to prove his commission of offence.	Admission refers to a statement which is acceptance of some facts or relevant facts to the case by the persons mentioned under the act.
Conclusive proof	Confessions that are deliberate and voluntary in nature can be accepted as conclusive proof to hold the accused accountable.	Admission cannot be used as a conclusive proof and it may only operate as an estoppel.
Admission of Guilt	Confession is a statement oral or written which is direct admission of guilt.	Admission may be oral or written which may give an inference towards the existence of liability of the person making the statement.
Joint Confession/admission	A confession made by 2 or more accused can be used against other accused in the case.	Admission by one of the defendants is not an admission against other defendants to the suit.
Nature	Confession always is used against the person making it.	An admission may or may not be used against the person making it.

 

Types of Confession 

There are two types of confession, one is judicial confession and the other is extra-judicial confession. A judicial confession is a confession made under the direct presence of the judicial magistrate while an extra-judicial confession is a confession made otherwise, i.e., before any other person or police officer or investigating officer. A confession which is made to a person other than the police officer or the investigating officer must be corroborated with some other evidence.

 

The basic difference between judicial and extra-judicial confession is-

Basis	Judicial Confession	Extra-Judicial Confession
Meaning	A judicial confession can be defined as a confession made before a Judicial magistrate under Section 164 CrPC or before a court during a trial or committal proceedings.	An extra judicial confession on the other hand, is a confession made to any other person other than a person authorized by law to take a confession. Such person includes a police officer or an investigating officer.
Calling of Witness	To prove the validity of a judicial confession, the person to whom such confession is made need not be called in as a witness.	The person before whom an extra-judicial confession is made is called in as a witness to prove the validity of such statement.
Conclusive Proof	A judicial confession if proved to be true and voluntarily can be relied upon as a conclusive proof of evidence. Such statement can be exclusively used by the court to convict the accused.	An extra-judicial confession is not a conclusive proof and needs to be corroborated with other supporting evidences.
Basis of Conviction	A conviction can be based solely upon a true and voluntary judicial confession.	An extra-judicial confession must not be used as the sole basis to form a conviction.

 

When is a Confession Considered to be Irrelevant?

As per Section 24 of the Indian Evidence Act, a confession is discarded and considered to be irrelevant if it has following elements-

• The confession is involuntary in nature i.e., it is made out of threat, inducement, promise or violence.
• Such confession is proceeded from a person in authority like police officer, magistrate, etc.
• It must relate to the charge in question.
• It must have the benefit of temporal nature or some associated disadvantage. 

Such confession is discarded on the basis of a reasonable doubt. It is in furtherance to Article 20(3) which states that no one can be compelled to give an evidence against themselves.

Confession before a Police Officer 

As per Section 25 and Section 26, confessions made before a police officer do not act as a conclusive proof in the court. These provisions are incorporated to avoid custodial violence and self-incrimination. So, a confession made before a police officer is not admissible unless it is made in the presence of a judicial officer. However, if police officer over hears a person making a voluntary confession to any other person, then this evidence is not debarred from being admissible. 

However, there is an exception to the rule in Section 25 and 26, under the Section 27 of this act. As per Section 27, if the confession leads to the discovery of a fact which is later proved to be true, then such confession can be used against the accused person. E.g.- If a person makes a confession before the police officer that he committed murder and the murder weapon and clothes are near the well, then confession with respect to discovery of weapon and clothes can be used. If the statement is later on proved to be true, then it can be used against the accused person. 

Section 25 and 26 imposes a blanket ban on statement given before a police officer. However, Section 27 protects the discovery of a fact.

 

Conclusion

So, on the basis of the above article it can be noted that a confession made before a magistrate is admissible and can be used against the person making it. If a confession is made before a police officer, it cannot be used against the person unless it is made in the presence of a magistrate. However, an admission cannot be used as a conclusive proof and hence can be debated. It only leads to an estoppel. It is imperative that a person must know his rights with respect to admission and confession to avoid exploitation and injustive.

Our team of lawyers at RCIC, are experts in the Evidence law and can handle all your criminal and civil cases. They are adept in handling challenging trials. They can help its clients in handling cases with respect to admission and confession.