Witness Protection in India: A Fundamental Need in Criminal Justice System

The establishment of the judicial system is based on the fact that witnesses are not afraid, partial, and not intimidated or urged by the court. If witnesses are fired out of fear or intimidation, or out of grace or urge, then the foundation of justice will not only be weakened, it may even be eliminated. The public interest in due justice is as important as the defendant's personal interest, and even more important. In this regard, one can refer to the statement of the Supreme Court in Zahira Habibullah Sheikh, in which the court pointed out the importance of the role of witnesses in criminal trials. Therefore, there is a great need to protect witnesses and expand their power in the criminal justice system, especially those who fight against well-known and closely related influential defendants. Sometimes the witness is humiliated by the court, and the defendant or his followers or family members are petrified, and sometimes it may cause the witness to commit suicide. All this happened because India’s witness protection mechanism is very weak, and there is no protection for witnesses in such incidents. If this happens, witnesses may lose confidence in the criminal justice system. Therefore, they hesitate or fear to come forward to testify. In this article, I want to focus on the problems faced by witnesses, the mechanisms for protecting witnesses, and the protection of their family members.