New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday observed that the presence of an advocate is not mandatory when the confession or statement of the accused before Magistrate is not recorded by audio-visual means under Section 164 of the CrPC.
The apex court bench was hearing the submission of Siddharth Luthra, who was appearing for the review petitioner death convict Manoharan. Luthra submitted that the accused faced prejudice due to the absence of a counsel during proceedings before the Magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC.
"What mandatorily is needed, is that the Magistrate must satisfy himself of the voluntariness of the statement and all the statutory safeguards which includes bringing the repercussions and the voluntariness of making confessions to the knowledge of the accused, must be meticulously complied with," Justice Surya Kant observed.
"Section 164 of the Code thus does not contemplate that a confession or statement should necessarily be made in the presence of the advocate, except, when such confessional statement is recorded with audio-video electronic means," the court added.
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