INTRODUCTION
The right against self incrimination is based on the maxim “nemo teneteur prodre accussare seipsum”, which means,
“NO MAN IS BOUND TO ACCUSE HIMSELF.”
The right gradually evolved in common law through protests against the unjust methods of interrogation of accused persons, back in the middles ages in England. This right became one of the fundamental canons of British System of criminal jurisprudence which the United States of America adopted from the British legal system and incorporated it in their Constitution as “no person shall be compelled in any case to be a witness against himself”.
The Indian Constitution provides for protection to an accused against self incrimination under compulsion through Article 20(3) which reads,
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The basis of the protection against self-incrimination is best explained by the Court in Saunders v. United Kingdom. This case explained that the right provides protection to the accused against the improper compulsion by the authorities, thereby contributing to the avoidance of the miscarriages of justice.
The Fundamental Right guaranteed under Article 20(3) is a protective umbrella against testimonial compulsion for people who are accused of an offence and are compelled to be a witness against themselves. This provision can be linked to an essential feature of the Indian Penal Code based on the line that, “an accused is innocent until proven guilty” and the burden is on the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused; and that the accused has a right to remain silent which is subject to his much broader right, against self-incrimination.
There has been a scepticism of police system in the Indian legal system. Hence, confessions of an accused is only admissible if recorded by a Magistrate in accordance with an elaborate procedure to ensure that they are made voluntarily. Protection is also given by the provisions of The Indian Evidence Act.
The Constitutional Provision- Article