“Witness Protection: An Important Measure For The Effective Functioning Of Criminal Justice Administration”

The efficacy of criminal justice administration can be adjudged by the ability of courts to punish the wrongdoer and impart justice to the victim. During the process of finding the guilt, courts rely upon the evidence adduced by the parties in the oral or documentary form. The oral evidence is submitted by the means of versions of witnesses. Witness act as a valuable source of information for the courts to bring out the guilt of the accused. The versions of witness facilitate the courts to arrive at a judicious decision. Therefore, the witness plays a prominent role in criminal justice administration. For this reason, Whittaker Chambers said, “In search of truth, he plays that sacred role of the sun, which eliminates the darkness of ignorance and illuminates the face of justice, encircled by devils of humanity and compassion.”1 However, it is a bitter truth that the condition of witnesses is turning pathetic in the justice administration system day by day. The reports of inducement, threatening, harassment and intimidation of witnesses are coming every day on a rolling basis. All these incidences create fear in the mind of witnesses due to which witness hesitate to come forward to cooperate in the court process and often turn hostile. Moreover, a witness also falters due to lack of witness protection mechanism in our country. Law Commission of India in its various reports highlighted the problems faced by the witness during the course of the trial and recommended to incorporate a comprehensive policy on witness protection. Hon’ble Supreme Court of India through its judgement revamped the urge for witness protection regime in the Indian judicial system. In this research paper, the researcher seeks to highlight the problem faced by the witnesses in the criminal justice system and discuss the issue of witness protection in India. 1 https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/tag/sit-and-cbi-probe/