Section 25

Section 25 is one of the most powerful — and most debated — provisions in Indian evidence law. It creates an absolute, exceptionless bar on the admissibility of confessions made to police officers. **Why absolute?** The bar is absolute because the framers of the IEA (1872) recognised that Indian police under colonial rule had a documented history of torture and coercion to extract confessions. An absolute bar removes any incentive for police to extract confessions — since nothing obtained in police custody by way of confession can be used in court. If the bar were conditional (admissible if voluntary), police would routinely claim voluntariness; the courts would be flooded with disputes about voluntariness; and the incentive for coercion would remain. **Scope — 'police officer' means:** Any officer in the police service, including sub-inspectors, inspectors, and senior officers. The Supreme Court has also extended this to officers exercising police powers (e.g., officers under certain special acts who have powers of arrest and investigation). However, customs officers, income tax officials, and CBI officers in certain cases have been held not to be 'police officers' for Section 25 purposes. **Coexistence with Section 27:** The absolute bar in Section 25 coexists with the Section 27 exception — the information in the confession that leads to the discovery of a physical fact can still be used. 'I hid the weapon in a red bag under my bed' leads to discovery of the weapon; the fact of discovery ('a weapon was found in the accused's house') and the accused's statement relating to the discovery ('I can show you where I hid it') are admissible, even though the broader confession is not. **The Narcotic Drugs (Special) provision:** In NDPS cases, BNSS (successor to CrPC) provisions and NDPS Act special provisions create different frameworks. Courts have grappled with confessions made before Narcotics Control Bureau officers — held in some cases not to be 'police officers' under Section 25. **What can police do?** Police can record statements of witnesses under Section 161 CrPC (now Section 180 BNSS) — these are not confessions (they are from witnesses, not accused) and are admissible for contradiction purposes. Police can record the accused's statement on arrest — this information can be used (with limitations). But any direct confession to a police officer is out.