MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently observed a person cannot be convicted solely based on judicial confession, especially when it is doubtful whether it was given voluntarily. A Bench of justices G Jayachandran and Sunder Mohan said so while acquitting M Velachami, sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court in Tirunelveli in 2015, on charges of murdering his second wife in 2009.
Hearing an appeal filed by Velachami against the lower court’s order, the judges observed that a judicial confession (which is a confession given by an accused admitting his or her guilt before a magistrate) has to be both ‘true’ and ‘voluntary’.
The Supreme Court had laid down various principles that should be followed by judicial magistrates while recording confession statements under Section 164 CrPC. One such principle stipulates that a magistrate should ask the accused why he wants to make a confession, the judges noted.
Even the extra-judicial confession is said to have been given by Velachami to the village administrative officer nearly a year after the occurrence, the judges said and held that the trial court rightly disbelieved the same.
It is not clear why Velachami gave the judicial confession when he had already confessed before the VAO.
The identity of the deceased is also doubtful as the body was found in a river in a burnt condition, the judges added and acquitted Velachami from the charges.