The Kerala High Court has held that, during cross-examination, an accused’s counsel may confront a prosecution witness with documents such as photographs of the place of occurrence or a site-plan, even if the documents were not authored by the witness, so long as they relate to relevant facts under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA).
In the case before the Court, the trial judge had refused defence counsel’s request to confront the building owner witness (PW2) with a photograph of the interior of a building leased to the accused and a site-plan prepared by the village officer. The trial court’s reason was that these documents were not prepared by the witness and thus did not fall within the earlier Section 145 Evidence Act framework. The High Court disagreed.
The High Court reasoned that under Section 5 of the BSA, facts that “form the state of things under which the facts in issue occurred” are relevant. In a prosecution for rape, for example, the premises where the act occurred forms part of that “state of things.” Therefore, a photograph or site-plan of the alleged location may be relevant to assess whether the offence could physically or circumstantially occur as alleged.
The Court set aside the trial court’s order and directed that the defence be allowed to show the documents to PW2. It also laid out a procedure: if the witness affirms that the document pertains to the leased portion, further examination and marking of the document may proceed; if the witness denies or expresses ignorance, further questioning on that document may stop.
