In the context of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, “confession” means

A confession acknowledges the offence or substantially all facts constituting it. A mere admission of an incriminating fact may fall short of a confession. Palvinder Kaur, following Pakala Narayana Swami, also explains that a genuinely exculpatory statement negating the alleged offence is not a confession merely because part of it appears incriminating.

The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 does not define “confession”; its provisions on confessions are sections 22–24 (formerly sections 24–30 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872), and the doctrinal meaning remains distinct from a mere admission.