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Indian Evidence Act, 1872 · Chapter II: Of the Relevancy of Facts · Admissions

Section 26: Confession by accused while in custody of Police not to be proved against him

The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 from 1 July 2024. It still applies to matters and proceedings from before that date, as the repealing law provides.

In plain words

No confession made by a person while in police custody can be proved against them, unless it was made in the immediate presence of a Magistrate.

A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.

Official text

No confession made by any person whilst he is in the custody of a police-officer, unless it be made in the immediate presence of a Magistrate4, shall be proved as against such person. [Explanation.––In this section “Magistrate” does not include the head of a village discharging magisterial functions in the Presidency of Fort St. George *** or elsewhere, unless such headman is a Magistrate exercising the powers of a Magistrate under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 18827 (10 of 1882).]

Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the text of the Act as it stood before its repeal. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 26