Section 158 BSA 2023 - Impeaching Credit of Witness
Section 158 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA) deals with the ways in which the credibility, or credit, of a witness may be challenged during a judicial proceeding.
What Section 158 means
In simple terms, Section 158 allows the adverse party to attack the reliability of a witness. With the consent of the Court, the party who called the witness may also impeach that witness's credit. The provision identifies specific methods by which credibility may be challenged.
Text of Section 158 - Impeaching credit of witness
158. The credit of a witness may be impeached in the following ways by the adverse party, or, with the consent of the Court, by the party who calls him-
(a) by the evidence of persons who testify that they, from their knowledge of the witness, believe him to be unworthy of credit;
(b) by proof that the witness has been bribed, or has accepted the offer of a bribe, or has received any other corrupt inducement to give his evidence;
(c) by proof of former statements inconsistent with any part of his evidence which is liable to be contradicted.
Explanation. A witness declaring another witness to be unworthy of credit may not, upon his examination-in-chief, give reasons for his belief, but he may be asked his reasons in cross-examination, and the answers which he gives cannot be contradicted, though, if they are false, he may afterwards be charged with giving false evidence.
Illustration (a). A sues B for the price of goods sold and delivered to B. C says that he delivered the goods to B. Evidence is offered to show that, on a previous occasion, he said that he had not delivered goods to B. The evidence is admissible.
Illustration (b). A is accused of the murder of B. C says that B, when dying, declared that A had given B the wound of which he died. Evidence is offered to show that, on a previous occasion, C said that B, when dying, did not declare that A had given B the wound of which he died. The evidence is admissible.
How the credit of a witness may be impeached
- Evidence of unworthiness of credit: A person who knows the witness may testify that the witness is not worthy of belief.
- Bribery or corrupt inducement: Credibility may be attacked by proving that the witness was bribed, accepted an offer of a bribe, or received another corrupt inducement to give evidence.
- Prior inconsistent statements: A former statement inconsistent with the witness's present evidence may be proved where the evidence is legally liable to contradiction.
Role of prior inconsistent statements
Clause (c) is especially important in cross-examination. Where a witness has previously made a statement inconsistent with the evidence now given before the Court, the earlier statement may be used to impeach credibility, subject to the rules governing contradiction of a witness and admissibility of the statement.
Who may impeach the witness
The normal rule is that the adverse party may impeach the credit of a witness. The party who called the witness may also do so, but only with the consent of the Court. This should be read with Section 157 BSA, which permits the Court, in its discretion, to allow a party to put cross-examination type questions to its own witness.
Related provisions
Section 158 operates within the BSA provisions dealing with examination of witnesses. Relevant connected provisions include Section 156, Section 157, Section 159, and Section 160.
Official sources
For the authoritative text and commencement notification, refer to the official Government sources in the right sidebar.