Power of the court to suo motu examine any person at any stage is under:

Section 168 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (formerly section 165 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872) allows the judge, in order to discover or obtain proper proof of relevant facts, to ask any question he considers necessary, in any form, at any time, of any witness or of the parties, and to order production of any document or thing. The judgment must still rest on relevant facts duly proved, and the statutory protections in the provisos remain. Sections 166, 167 and 169 concern different evidentiary matters (documents called for and produced on notice, documents whose production was refused on notice, and no new trial for improper admission or rejection of evidence).