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Shafhi Mohammad v. The State of Himachal Pradesh

Special Leave Petition (Criminal) · 2018 INSC 75Decided 30 Jan 2018
Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 2302 of 2017
Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel · Justice Uday Umesh Lalit

Background

This is an interim order, not a final judgment. Three matters were heard together on the use of videography at crime scenes and on when electronic evidence needs a certificate under Section 65B(4) of the Evidence Act.

Decision Breakdown

This is an interim order, not a final judgment. The Court clarified that the Section 65B(4) certificate is a procedural requirement that can be relaxed where the party producing the electronic record is not in control of the device. On videography of crime scenes and a standard operating procedure, it reached no final ruling and adjourned the matter to 13.02.2018.

Lesson Learnt

There is no final ruling yet on crime-scene videography. The certificate requirement for electronic evidence was eased where the party cannot obtain one.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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