Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023
Section 152
Question not to be asked without reasonable grounds
No such question as is referred to in section 151 ought to be asked, unless the person asking it has reasonable grounds for thinking that the imputation which it conveys is well-founded. Illustrations.
(a) An advocate is instructed by another advocate that an important witness is a dacoit. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dacoit.
(b) An advocate is informed by a person in Court that an important witness is a dacoit. The informant, on being questioned by the advocate, gives satisfactory reasons for his statement. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dacoit.
(c) A witness, of whom nothing whatever is known, is asked at random whether he is a dacoit. There are here no reasonable grounds for the question.
(d) A witness, of whom nothing whatever is known, being questioned as to his mode of life and means of living, gives unsatisfactory answers. This may be a reasonable ground for asking him if he is a dacoit.
Why this exists
This provision balances the right to test a witness's credibility through cross-examination against the risk of lawyers using humiliating, baseless questions merely to intimidate or discredit witnesses. It continues a rule from the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (Section 150), reflecting long-standing common law concern that cross-examination should not become a tool for character assassination without any factual basis.
How courts read it
Indian courts, interpreting the identical predecessor provision (Section 150 of the Evidence Act, 1872), have consistently held that advocates must have some material — even secondhand information verified for plausibility — before asking degrading questions, and that judges have discretion to disallow questions asked in bad faith or without foundation.
Common misconceptions
- Myth: A lawyer can ask any humiliating question about a witness as long as it might reveal the truth.
Fact: The law requires the lawyer to first have reasonable grounds — some credible information or behavior — before asking such a question. - Myth: Only direct proof counts as a 'reasonable ground.'
Fact: As shown in the illustrations, secondhand information (verified for credibility) or even a witness's own suspicious answers can count as reasonable grounds.