Question not to be asked without reasonable grounds
AI Assist
Summary
No question that implies an accusation or bad character should be asked unless the questioner has reasonable grounds to believe the allegation is well founded. It applies when counsel or anyone wants to suggest a witness committed wrongdoing. Without reasonable grounds the question is improper and should not be put.
Example
Ravi, a shopkeeper, is told by a police officer that an important witness stole from his shop. That information gives Ravi's lawyer reasonable grounds to ask the witness whether he is a thief. If the lawyer had no such information and asked at random, the question would be improper.
Bare Act
Enacted textNo such question as is referred to in section 148 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) A barrister is instructed by an attorney or vakil that an important witness is a dakait. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dakait.
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(b) A pleader is informed by a person in court that an important witness is a dakait. The informant, on being questioned by the pleader, gives satisfactory reasons for this statement. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dakait.
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(c) A witness, of whom nothing whatever is known, is asked at random whether he is a dakait. 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 dakait.
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