Lahore, May 18, 2022 (PPI-OT):
Commonly used in murder, dacoity and rape cases
Mian Tariq Javed
Identification parade refers to the identification of stranger offender not previously known to the witnesses. Many times crimes are committed under the cover of darkness when no one is able to identify the accused. The commission of crime in those cases can be proved by establishing the identity of accused through identification parade.
Identification Parade is held by the police in course of their investigation for the purpose of enabling witnesses to identify the accused and properties which are the subject matter of offences. The need for identification parade arises only when culprits are not previously known to the witnesses. Refusal to participate in parade goes against the accused. Evidence of identification parade is direct evidence but not a substantive piece of evidence.
The identification parade is also a process of comparison and it is mostly applicable in murder, dacoity and rape cases. For instance, a recovery of ornaments from the accused which was putting on by the deceased women at the time of occurrence, may point out to the actual commission of murder by that person. The evidence of identification requires vigilance and caution on the part of magistrate and also on the part of Judges in the acceptance of this class of evidence.
Role of police and magistrate
The burden of satisfying a judge necessarily falls on the police. They, therefore, have to take all the necessary precautions which may inspire confidence in this class of testimony. The police must prove to the satisfaction of the judge that the witnesses were not only strangers to the accused person but they also had no access to him from the time of his responsibility.
The magistrates who preside over the identification process are required to countercheck the person whom the witnesses pick out from the parade on the account of any distinctive marks on his or her face or body. The identification of suspects and under-trials who are mixed with them should be similar in order to rule out any possibility of identification by means of any peculiarities or special features of a suspect.
The purpose of holding test identification parades enables the police to ascertain whether those persons against whom they receive information are really the persons who were involved in the commission of the offence. Since the statements to the police officer made under Section 161 Cr. P. C. cannot by virtue of Section 162 Cr. P. C., be used for the purpose of corroboration, it is the magistrate who conducts the identification proceedings.
Jail becomes part of the process
When the prisoners for identification are admitted to the jail, the circle inspector or senior police officer informs the jailor immediately or as soon as possible so that the identification proceedings can be held. On receipt of such information, the superintendent of jail issues instructions to prevent the prisoners from being disguised for their appearance changed in such a way as to make recognition difficult. Such prisoners are required to keep their hair in the same state until the identification proceedings are held and they are not allowed to grow beard if clean shaved or vice versa.
During identification proceedings, the prisoners should wear the same clothes as they were wearing at the time of admission unless the magistrate who conducts the proceedings directs otherwise. The identification parade is held under article 22 of Qanoon-e-Shahadat order 1984. It is carried out by modern devices like tape recorder, cameras, videos, audios and sometime with the help of dogs.
Examples for clarity
On 14th August 2021, at Minar-e-Pakistan an incident took place in which a female Tik Toker was assaulted by 300 to 400 people. The FIR was lodged in Lari Adda Police Station Lahore against unidentified persons. The complainant identified some of the persons in the District Jail who surrounded her, torn her clothes and forcibly took her jewellery. These suspected persons were traced out by the police through videos of that incident. The police arrested a few of them and later on, the identification parade was held in the District Jail Lahore.
Similarly, another incident took place at LDA Avenue Lahore on 22nd August 2021 in which a mother and her daughter were allegedly gang raped by rickshaw driver and his accomplice. The police arrested the rickshaw driver and his companion. The complainant identified the suspects through an identification parade through an order by the magistrate. Hence, we can safely say that in blind incidents, the identification parade has become very important in tracing out and identifying the real accused by the victim of the offence. The author is the Vice-Principal/Head of Department, College of Law, UOL.
For more information, contact:
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