PROTECTION AGAINST SELF-INCRIMINATION AS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT IN INDIA

The Latin adage "Nemon tenetur seipsum accusare"—which translates to "No man is required to accuse himself"—is the earliest example of the right against self-incrimination in mediaeval Roman Catholic law. Through objections against the inquisitorial and blatantly unfair techniques employed to question suspects in the mediaeval times in England, the right gradually developed in common law. One of the cornerstones of the British System of Criminal Law was "no person shall be compelled in any case to be a witness against himself," which the United States of America adopted and included in their Constitution. This principle was later incorporated into the Indian Constitution under Article 20(3). The Constitution (Fourty-fourth Amendment) Act of 1978 gave Article 20 of the Indian Constitution non-derogable status. This means that under no circumstances, not even in an emergency, can the state fail to protect this right. “This exemplifies the importance that our Constitution has placed on it. Throughout the early years of our Constitution, there has been considerable misunderstanding over what evidence is protected, and there has appeared to be a conflict between Article 20(3) and the provisions of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. be a witness against himself and thereafter under Article 20 of the Indian Constitution.” 1 The Apex Court received these judgments and referred them to an eleven-judge panel after clubbing them.