STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH vs SINGHARA SINGH AND OTHERS

The Supreme Court held that a confession recorded by a Magistrate not specially empowered under Section 164(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, is inadmissible in evidence. The Court emphasized that the procedure prescribed by the statute must be strictly followed, and any deviation renders the confession invalid. Consequently, the oral evidence of the Magistrate to prove the confession was also deemed inadmissible, reaffirming the principle established in Nazir Ahmed v. King Emperor.