Fruits Of The Poisonous Tree - A Study Of The Admissibility Of Illegally Obtained Evidence In India

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Dibyajyoti Mandal, BBA LLB (Hons.), Amity Law School, Amity University Kolkata

Soujanya Das, BA LLB (Hons.), Amity Law School, Amity University Kolkata

ABSTRACT

Unlike the Fourt Amendment under the Constitution of the United States which guarantees constitutional protection to Right to Privacy and US Courts treat illegally obtained evidence is inadmissible, the position in India is different due to the absence of any legislative or constitutional provision which expressly protects the Right to Privacy. The Apex Court by interpretation of Article 21 recognised Right to Privacy in Justice K. S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India but the Indian courts do not prohibit the admission of evidence which was obtained illegally. Firstly the paper discusses the current position of illegally obtained evidence in Indian courts and it Jurisprudence. The paper while establishes that the judiciary’s current view by only considering the rule of relevancy, leaves the courts at a vulnerable standpoint, with emphasis on the 94th Law Commission Report, will discuss why the Indian judiciary must provide a more enforceable approach to Right to Privacy to ensure that the deeper human rights required by the current society are protected. Lastly, the paper contends that deterring police overreach to obtain evidence illegally is a possible remedy to ensure protection of Right to Privacy in India.

Keywords: Law of Evidence, Exclusionary Principle, Right to Privacy, Puttaswamy, Illegal Evidence

FRUITS OF THE POISONOUS TREE - A STUDY OF THE ADMISSIBILITY OF ILLEGALLY OBTAINED EVIDENCE.

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