Reliance for conviction

Retracted confession before a Magistrate can be the basis of convicting in a capital case however it must be; (a) voluntary i.e. without threat or inducement; (b) its object must be to state the truth; assistance for which can be ascertained from (i) whether the confession appears truthful within the context of prosecution case and (ii) whether there is any other evidence on record which tends to corroborate truthfulness of the confession, and (c) only minor irregularities regarding the rules concerning the recording of judicial confession can be permitted as determined on a case to case basis the main criteria being that such irregularities have not adversely affected the voluntariness or truthfulness of the confession

Slight delay in recording such confession after arrest of accused does not affect its legality and ability of Court to rely on it.

Three fold test is to be satisfied in order to use 'extra judicial confession' for recording conviction; firstly it was made; secondly it was voluntarily made; and lastly it was truly made

Extra-judicial confession is a weak type of evidence, which can easily be procured when direct evidence is not available

In order to rely upon such type of evidence, degree of high care and caution is required.