The Supreme Court brought in place a witness protection regime, the first in the country.
About:
The Witness Protection Scheme, 2018 is aimed to enable a witness to depose fearlessly and truthfully.
Features:
Under it, witness protection may be as simple as providing a police escort to the witness up to the courtroom.
In more complex cases involving an organised criminal group, extraordinary measures such as offering temporary residence in a safe house, giving a new identity, and relocation at an undisclosed place can be done to protect witness.
Implementation Status:
The Scheme will come into effect immediately across all States. It would be the law of the land till Parliament enacted suitable legislation.
Supreme Court has asked the States to implement it till Parliament comes out with legislation.
Need of Scheme: It has been done because according to Supreme Court, one of the main reasons for witnesses turning hostile is that they are not given security by the State.
Background: Asaram Bapu case
The Scheme was announced when the Supreme Court was hearing a public interest litigation plea seeking protection for witnesses in rape cases involving self-styled preacher Asaram Bapu.
According to the Bench, witnesses feared serious consequences if they deposed against Asaram. It is alleged that as many as 10 witnesses have already been attacked and three witnesses have been killed.
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