The Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952
6. Statements made by persons to the Commission –
No statement made by a person in the course of giving evidence before the Commission shall subject him to, or be used against him in, any civil or criminal proceeding except a prosecution for giving false evidence by such statement.
Provided that the statement –
(a) Is made in reply to a question which he is required by the Commission to answer, or
(b) Is relevant to the subject matter of the inquiry.
Comments
Statements made by witness before a Commission could be used in a criminal trial neither for the purpose of cross-examination to contradict the witness nor to impeach his credit. Neither the copies of statements made by witnesses before the Commission could be supplied to the accused as prayed for nor the Report of the Commission could be summoned being of no evidentiary value in such trial, owing to restrictions contained in this section of the Act. ( Smt. Indira Gandhi Murder case ) Kehar Singh v. State (Delhi Admn.) AIR 1988 SC 1883.
The Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952