The proviso to Section 23(2) of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (relating to the admissibility of…

Under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, the proviso to Section 23(2) (formerly Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872) provides that when any fact is deposed to as discovered in consequence of information received from a person accused of any offence, in the custody of a police officer, so much of such information, whether it amounts to a confession or not, as relates distinctly to the fact thereby discovered, may be proved.

As settled by the Supreme Court in State of U.P. v. Deoman Upadhyaya, AIR 1960 SC 1125, and Aghnoo Nagesia v. State of Bihar, AIR 1966 SC 119, this discovery rule operates as a proviso and exception to the preceding exclusionary provisions governing confessions — namely Section 22 (confession caused by inducement, threat, coercion or promise), Section 23(1) (confession to a police officer), and Section 23(2) (confession by an accused while in police custody not made in the immediate presence of a Magistrate) of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (formerly Sections 24, 25, and 26 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872).