Under Section 161 CrPC, statements made by witnesses to the investigating police officer:
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A.
1. Section 161 CrPC empowers the investigating police officer to examine witnesses orally; statements are recorded but NOT SIGNED by the witness (Section 162(1)).
2. Section 162(1) further provides that no statement made by any person to a police officer in the course of investigation shall be used for any purpose, save to contradict the witness under Section 145 IEA.
3. The witness's previous statement to police is thus NOT substantive evidence — it is only a contradiction tool.
4. Statements under Section 164 CrPC (recorded by a Magistrate) have higher evidentiary weight but are still not substantive on their own unless the witness affirms them.
5. Hence option B is correct.
_Source: Indian Penal Code 1860 / Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 / Indian Evidence Act 1872 (Bare Acts, indiacode.nic.in) — CrPC, Section 161 read with Section 162; Indian Evidence Act, Section 145_
Related questions
Section 357A CrPC, inserted by the 2009 Amendment Act, provides for:Section 161 IPC criminalises the taking of:Section 320 CrPC deals with compounding of offences. Compoundable offences:Section 122 IEA enacts marital privilege. It provides that:Section 60 IEA enacts the rule that oral evidence must be DIRECT, namely:Section 173 CrPC requires the officer in charge of a police station, on completion of inveSection 156 CrPC empowers the officer in charge of a police station to investigate a cogniSection 268 IPC defines 'public nuisance' as an act which causes: