Mandatory Jurisdictional Order Under Section 299 CrPC Required to Rely on Prior Evidence
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Case: MAHENDRA SINGH v. THE STATE OF CHHATTISGARH
Court: Supreme Court of India
Date: 31-07-2026
Law: Code of Criminal Procedure, Indian Evidence Act.
Highlights of the Judgment:
- Interpretation of Section 299 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 regarding evidence recorded against an absconding accused.
- Requirement to conjunctively satisfy jurisdictional facts of abscondence and lack of immediate prospect of arrest.
- Section 299 Cr.PC evaluated as a statutory exception to Section 33 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
- Distinction between legal consequences in praesenti and in futuro governing deposition recording and later evidentiary use.
- Inadmissibility of prior witness depositions in a subsequent trial absent a formal judicial order under Section 299.