Evidentiary value of discloser statements

When something is discovered as a result of information or statement given by accused in police custody, that statement is known as “Disclosure Statement”. It can be a confessional or not, which depends upon the facts and circumstances of a case. In Indian law, there is no use of word `Disclosure Statement’, but there is a provision introduced in the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (hereinafter referred as “the Act”), i.e. Section 27, which corresponds with such concept. Section 27 of the Act provides that when any fact is discovered in consequence of information received from a person accused of any offence, in police custody, such information as relates to that fact discovered can be proved (section 27). It is founded on the principle that even though the evidence relating to a confessional or other statements made by a person in police custody is tainted and so inadmissible, if the truth of the information given by him is assured by the discovery of a fact, it may be presumed to be untainted and is therefore declared provable insofar as it distinctly relates to the fact thereby discovered.