The Supreme Court recently expressed concern over the “pathetic” state of witness protection programme in India. The top court lamented the lack of effective implementation of the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018.
The judiciary underscored how witnesses are often coerced, threatened, or bribed by powerful people, undermining justice. Against this backdrop, Shekhar Singh spoke to lawyer Niharika Karanjawala-Misra to explore the importance of robust witness protection.
Here is her interview:
What are the key challenges witnesses face that make a strong protection programme essential?
While testifying in trials against powerful or influential accused persons, witnesses can be faced with both inducements to deviate from the truth, as well as threats to their lives and the lives of their families. The key function of witness protection is to ensure that before, during and even once the trial has concluded and the individual in question is no longer in touch with law enforcement agencies, they should not be targeted and made to suffer for assisting the criminal justice system.
How does the witness protection programme currently operate in India, and how effective has it been in safeguarding witnesses?
Currently, Section 398 of the BNSS provides for the establishment of a witness protection program at the state level. Until it materialises, the Witness Protection Scheme (WPS) proposed by the home ministry in 2018 will be considered legally in effect. Under the WPS, once an individual requests protection, a risk assessment has to be conducted and, accordingly, he or she should be classified into one of three categories- Category A (witnesses have a direct threat to their lives or their families), Category B (witnesses have a threat to their safety, reputation or property) and Category C (witnesses have a lesser threat such as harassment).
What are the main hurdles in implementing a successful witness protection program, particularly in regions with strong political or criminal influences?
A lack of resources and corruption in law enforcement are the main hurdles, in my opinion, to the success of any witness protection program.
How are vulnerable witnesses treated differently in witness protection programs?
While the current law and protection schemes classify witnesses in need of protection purely on the basis of the level of threat faced by them, steps could be taken to ensure that more vulnerable individuals such as women and children are treated with greater sensitivity and better steps are taken to integrate them into society in instances of relocation. Trusted NGOs can also play a role in this.
What are some of the best practices from other countries that India could adopt?
India could learn from the witness relocation system adopted in the US and the UK. Witnesses in sensitive cases are relocated and given wholly different lives in another part of the country under assumed identities. Furthermore, individuals in witness protection and relocation are always given a point of contact within law enforcement whom they can contact in a situation where they feel threatened.
With the rise of digital surveillance, what additional security measures are necessary to ensure the safety of protected witnesses?
In the age of digital surveillance, it is of immense significance that witnesses extended protection or being relocated be made aware at the first instance of the potential threat that digital monitoring could bring to their safety. Witnesses in protection should not use the same phones they earlier did, for example, in case of tracking. Furthermore, even years after the case has concluded, witnesses and their families who have been relocated should be cautious of the use of tools like social media.