Safe but seen? Evaluating the promise and perils of witness protection in India and the USA

Abstract

In the due course of justice, witnesses tend to face hardships such as mental agony caused by prolonged judicial proceedings, inadequate allowances with delayed payments and most importantly the lack of security given via provisions to witnesses while they face the costs of life-threatening risks for assisting the judiciary in attaining justice. United States has been the most successful while carrying out witness protection, this paper will discuss the need for India to tweak its witness protection schemes by using the US model as a base. The role of witnesses is to provide evidence from the learnings that they possess in relation to an offence, this information is used from the early stage of investigation to ascertaining a judgment. The formerly known Indian Evidence Act 1872 now referred to as the Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023, although provides certain rights to witnesses, has not laid down the privileges and protection that need to be given to witnesses explicitly.