The Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) has taken suo motu cognizance of a troubling trend in police investigations—witness statements that appear to be “copy-pasted” verbatim, raising serious questions about the credibility of evidence in criminal cases.
The bench comprising Justice Vibha Kankanwadi and Justice Sanjay Deshmukh made these observations while examining a charge sheet in a case involving the alleged abetment of suicide of a 17-year-old girl. The judges noted that many witness statements were virtually identical, with large portions being repeated word-for-word, a practice they described as “dangerous.”
“The culture of copy-paste statements is dangerous and may, in certain cases, unnecessarily give advantage to the accused persons,” the Court remarked, cautioning that such investigative lapses could undermine genuine cases.
The Court expressed deep concern over whether the witnesses were even physically present when their statements were recorded. “We may wonder whether those witnesses were actually called by the police or not,” the bench stated, suggesting that statements under Section 161 CrPC may sometimes be fabricated or prepared without proper procedure.
Previously observed in Section 498A IPC (marital cruelty) cases, the Court noted that this practice has now extended to serious offences like Section 306 IPC (abetment of suicide). It stressed the urgent need for systemic reform and judicial oversight.
To address this issue, the Court appointed Advocate Mukul Kulkarni as Amicus Curiae, tasking him with compiling relevant data and proposing measures for improving police investigation protocols. He is to submit suggestions by June 20, with the next hearing scheduled for June 27.
The observations were made in a case where five members of a Jalgaon family sought to quash proceedings in connection with the girl’s death, initially recorded as accidental but later reclassified as suicide abetment after it was confirmed that the deceased was a minor.
Concluding its remarks, the Court called upon the State of Maharashtra to issue clear and enforceable guidelines for police officers on the proper procedure for recording witness statements.
“When even in such serious matters this copy-paste method is adopted, it is not a good indication for the criminal justice system,” the bench cautioned.
