Police Custody and the Discovery of Facts Under Section 23(2) of Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023: A Critical Analysis

The law of evidence seeks to balance effective criminal investigation with individual rights and fair-trial guarantees. Section 23 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA) governs confessions to police officers and retains a limited discovery-based exception. Under Section 23(2), information received from an accused in police custody is admissible only to the extent that it distinctly relates to a fact discovered, substantially continuing the principle under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (IEA). This article critically examines Section 23(2), distinguishing confessions from information leading to discovery and analysing judicial principles developed under Section 27 through Pulukuri Kottaya v. King Emperor, Mohd Inayatullah v. State of Maharashtra, State of Maharashtra v. Damu Gopinath Shinde, and Anter Singh v. State of Rajasthan. It evaluates the provision against Articles 20(3) and 21, arguing that its investigative value requires strict judicial scrutiny to prevent coercive interrogation, fabricated recoveries, and indirect admission of inadmissible confessions.