Witness Identity Protection - Law Commission of India

15After referring in Chapter 1 to the above observations of the SupremeCourt, the Commission set out in Chapter II, the provisions of the existingcriminal laws in India relating to right to a public trial and crossexaminationof witnesses in open Court. In this connection, theCommission referred to the provisions of sec 327 of the Code of CriminalProcedure, 1973 which provides for an open trial, to sec 207 which dealswith supply of copies of police report and other documents, to sec 208,which deals with supply of copies of statements and documents in casesinstituted otherwise than on a police report, to sec 273 which requiresevidence to be taken in the immediate presence of the accused. Sections200 and 202 require the Magistrate to examine the complainant and thewitnesses on oath. We also referred to certain exceptions to these rulesmentioned in the statute. All these provisions existing in the Code ensure afair trial to the accused.In Chapter II, the Commission also referred to some specialprovisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 where in cameraproceedings are permitted – vide sec 327(2) which provides for such aprocedure in case of trials regarding offence of rape under sec 376 and othersexual offences in sec 376A to 376D of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Wereferred to sec 228A of the Penal Code which provides for imprisonmentand fine upon any person who prints or publishes the name or any matterwhich may identify the person against whom rape is alleged or has beenfound to have been committed. We also referred to sec 21 of the JuvenileJustice (Care and Protection of Children Act, 2000), which prohibitspublication of name, address or school or any other particulars calculated tolead to identification of the juvenile or the publication of the picture of a