Sections 157 and 158 of the Indian Evidence Act 1872: Corroboration of Witness Statements

Sections 157 and 158 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 deal with the evidentiary use of earlier statements. Section 157 concerns former statements of a witness that may be proved to corroborate later testimony. Section 158 concerns matters that may be proved to contradict or corroborate a statement relevant under Section 32 or Section 33, or to impeach or confirm the credit of its maker.

Applicable-law note: This article explains the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 as it stood immediately before the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024. The 2023 Adhiniyam repealed the 1872 Act, subject to its savings provision for applications, trials, inquiries, investigations, proceedings or appeals already pending immediately before commencement.

Section 157 - Former statements may corroborate later testimony

Meaning: Section 157 permits a witness's earlier statement relating to the same fact to be proved for the purpose of corroborating that witness's testimony, provided the earlier statement falls within the conditions stated in the section.

Statutory rule: To corroborate the testimony of a witness, a former statement made by that witness relating to the same fact may be proved when it was made at or about the time when the fact took place, or before an authority legally competent to investigate the fact.

Essential elements of Section 157

The person giving testimony must be a witness in the proceeding; the earlier statement must be that witness's own statement and must relate to the same fact. The provision recognizes two qualifying situations: a statement made at or about the time of the occurrence, and a statement made before an authority legally competent to investigate the fact.

Section 157 is a rule of corroboration. Its function is to support the testimony given by the witness in court through a qualifying earlier statement; it does not make every prior statement automatically admissible for every purpose.

Section 158 - Matters connected with statements under Sections 32 and 33

Meaning: Section 158 applies when a statement relevant under Section 32 or Section 33 has been proved. It allows matters to be proved for testing or supporting that statement and the credit of the person who made it.

Statutory rule: When a statement relevant under Section 32 or 33 is proved, matters may also be proved to contradict or corroborate the statement, or to impeach or confirm the credit of its maker, if those matters could have been proved had the maker appeared as a witness and denied the matter suggested in cross-examination.

Connection with Sections 32 and 33

Section 32 deals with specified statements made by persons who cannot be called as witnesses in the circumstances recognized by that provision. Section 33 concerns the relevance, in specified circumstances, of evidence given by a witness in an earlier judicial proceeding or before a person authorized by law to take it.

Section 158 therefore provides a mechanism for evaluating such evidence even though the maker may not be available for ordinary cross-examination in the present proceeding. Matters capable of contradicting, corroborating, impeaching credit or confirming credit may be proved within the limits stated by the section.

Practical distinction between Sections 157 and 158

Section 157 focuses on corroborating a witness who is giving testimony by proving a qualifying former statement made by that same witness. Section 158 operates after a statement relevant under Section 32 or Section 33 has been proved and permits evidence bearing both for and against that statement or its maker's credit.

Related provisions

For the surrounding statutory scheme, see the provisions on Sections 154, 155 and 156, including impeaching the credit of a witness and questions tending to corroborate evidence, and Sections 159 and 160 on refreshing memory and testimony to facts recorded in a document.