The Supreme Court, in The State of Madhya Pradesh v. Balveer Singh (2025 INSC 261), laid down key judicial principles for assessing the testimony of child witnesses in criminal trials.
New Delhi, Feb 24 – The Supreme Court of India has ruled that a child witness is a competent witness and their testimony cannot be rejected outright just because they are young. The bench, comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, emphasized that the Indian Evidence Act does not specify any minimum age for a witness. If a child is found capable of understanding and answering questions, their evidence is legally admissible.
