What is Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act?

About Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act:

• This section creates an exception to the admissibility of confession made by the accused to a police officer while in custody.
• Sections 25 and 26 establish protection against self-incrimination and abuse of power by the police authority, deeming confessions made in police custody without the presence of a magistrate as inadmissible before a court of law.
• However, Section 27 provides an exception to this rule, allowing the admission of confessions that lead to the discovery of facts.
• Section 27 states: "Provided that, when any fact is deposed to as discovered in consequence of information received from a person accused of any offence, in the custody of a police officer, so much of such information, whether it amounts to a confession or not, as relates distinctly to the fact thereby discovered, may be proved."
• In simpler terms, any confession made by a person while in police custody that leads to the revelation of a fact is considered admissible in court.
  • The confession must provide information that was not previously known to the police and that led to the recovery of evidence or the identification of witnesses.
  • The confession must be directly related to the fact discovered. This means that the information provided in the confession must be specific and relevant to the discovery.
  • The confession must be made voluntarily. This means that the person must not have been coerced or threatened into confessing.
• The basic idea embedded in Section 27 of the Evidence Act is the doctrine of confirmation by subsequent events.
  • This doctrine is founded on the principle that every part of the statement made at the instance of the accused, in police custody should necessarily be confirmed by the subsequent events of discovery, to make it admissible in court. 
• In the case of Asar Mohd. v. State of U.P., the Supreme Court held that the concept of "fact" mentioned in Section 27 is not limited to physical objects alone but also includes essential psychological or mental facts that may be directly relevant to the case.
• The confession cannot be used to prove the guilt of the accused unless it is corroborated by other evidence.