Test Identification Parade -- Unexplained Delay and Procedural Non-Compliance -- Evidentiary Value Undermined
(i) Evidence Act, 1872, S.9 -- Test Identification Parade -- Unexplained Delay and Procedural Non-Compliance -- A test identification parade is corroborative evidence intended to test the memory and veracity of a witness who claims to have seen an unknown offender, and not substantive evidence in itself. Unexplained and inordinate delay in holding the parade affords the accused an opportunity of being shown to the witnesses beforehand and seriously undermines the evidentiary value of the identification proceedings. Non-compliance with prescribed procedural safeguards entitles the accused to the benefit of such lapses. (ii) Evidence Act, 1872, S.9 -- Test Identification Parade -- Dock Identification Without Corroboration -- Where the accused was previously unknown to the witness and is identified for the first time in court without a prior test identification parade, or where the parade was conducted with procedural lapses, such dock identification is weak evidence and generally insufficient to establish identity beyond reasonable doubt in the absence of corroborative material.
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