Question not to be asked without reasonable grounds
AI Assist
Summary
Questions that imply an accusation (for example, suggesting a witness is a dacoit) must not be asked unless the questioner has reasonable grounds to believe the imputation is true. Reasonable grounds include reliable prior information, a witness of fact giving satisfactory reasons, or the witness's own suspicious answers. Without such grounds the question is improper and should not be put to the witness.
Example
Ravi, an advocate, is told by another advocate that a key witness is a dacoit. That information gives Ravi reasonable grounds, so he may ask the witness whether he is a dacoit. If Ravi had asked the same question at random with no basis, the question would be improper.
Bare Act
Enacted textNo such question as is referred to in section 151 ought to be asked, unless the person asking it has reasonable grounds for thinking that the imputation which it conveys is well-founded.
Illustrations.
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(a) An advocate is instructed by another advocate that an important witness is a dacoit. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dacoit.
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(b) An advocate is informed by a person in Court that an important witness is a dacoit. The informant, on being questioned by the advocate, gives satisfactory reasons for his statement. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dacoit.
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(c) A witness, of whom nothing whatever is known, is asked at random whether he is a dacoit. There are here no reasonable grounds for the question.
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(d) A witness, of whom nothing whatever is known, being questioned as to his mode of life and means of living, gives unsatisfactory answers. This may be a reasonable ground for asking him if he is a dacoit.
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