Test Identification Parade

Posted on by Rudrajyoti Nath Ray

We are conscious, M.P. Sharma v. Satish Chandra, AIR 1954 SC 300 came to be overruled in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, (2017) 10 SCC 1. M.P. Sharma had observed, privacy is not a right guaranteed by Indian Constitution.

What is prohibited by Article 20(3) is procuring by compulsion, positive volitional evidentiary acts. It is true, an accused may be said to be compelled to attend a test identification parade. But, this compulsion does not involve any positive volitional evidentiary act [Peare Lal Show v. State, AIR 1961 Cal 531]. An identification of him by a witness is not his act, even though his body is exhibited for this purpose.

– Hon’ble Justice J.B. Pardiwala, Mukesh Singh v. State of NCT of Delhi, [Criminal Appeal No. 1554 of 2015].

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'The Last Word' seeks to include not only wise and witty sayings but also curiosities. These words are not of obligation but of delight. I am not alone in my refusal to believe, law is tedious. For all who escaped these percipient eyes, mea culpa maxima. History, after all, has many cunning passages, contrived corridors and issues.