26. Confession by accused while in custody of police not to be proved against him –
No confession made by any person whilst he is in the custody of a police-officer, unless it be made in the immediate presence of a Magistrate1, shall be proved as against such person.
,2[Explanation In this section Magistrate does not include the head of a village discharging magisterial functions in the Presidency of Fort St. George ,3[***] or elsewhere, unless such headman is a Magistrate exercising the powers of a Magistrate under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1882 (10 of 1882),4].
COMMENTS
The confession made while in custody is not to be proved against the accused as the provisions of sections 25 and 26 do not permit it unless it is made before a magistrate; Kamal Kishore v. State (Delhi Administration), (1997) 2 Crimes 169 (Del).
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1. A Coroner has been declared to be Magistrate for the purposes of this section, see the Coroners Act, 1871 (4 of 1871), section 20.
2. Ins. by Act 3 of 1891, sec. 3.
3. The words “or in Burma” omitted by the A.O. 1937.
4. See now the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
