minal Appeal No 146 of 1958
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated April 14 1957 of the Bombay High Court at Rajkot in Criminal jail Appeal No 73 of 1956
AND Criminal Appeal No 174 of 1959
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated June 4 1956 of the Calcutta High Court in Criminal Revision No 623 of 1958
13 H R Khanna and T M Sen for the appellant in Cr A No 146 of 1958
Specimen handwritings of the accused had been taken during investigation while the accused was in police custody
These have been excluded from consideration by the Courts below on the ground that obtaining of such signatures offended article 20 311 the courts holding that an element of compulsion was implicit in the accused being in police custody at the time the handwritings were taken
The mere fact that the accused was in police custody does not by itself imply that compulsion was used for obtaining the specimen handwritings
Even if there is compulsion it does not amount to testimonial compulsion
Action taken under sections 94 and 96 Criminal Procedure Code to secure production of documents though search warrants does not amount to compulsion within the meaning of article 20 3
Section 73 Evidence Act also contemplates the obtaining of specimen handwriting
If a person gives the specimen handwriting voluntarily it cannot be said that he was compelled to give it
If the police merely requests the accused then it does not amount to compulsion but if it directs the accused to write and if physical force is used or if there is any show of force or threat then alone would it be compulsion
Inducement is not compulsion
ILR  1957 Mad
66   AIR 1959 Bom 865 ILR  AIR 1955 Cal
247 ILR 1952 Tr
Co 447 AIR 1958 All 119
Refers to Willis on Constitutional Law dealing with self incrimination
In A 1
R section 27 of the Evidence Act has been held to be constitutional
MC Setalvad Attorney General of India B Sen and T M Sen for Intervener No 1
There are four elements in article 203 which must be satisfied before a person can claim the protection of article 203 namely i he must be accused ii he must have been compelled iii he Must have 14 been compelled to be a witness and iv his witnessing must be against himself
There must be an element of compulsion a voluntary act is not compulsion
Coercion is an element of compulsion
In inducement or moral compulsion the mind is not free
There was nothing in England which prevented a voluntary statement
 and 1960 3 SCR 116 125
The fact whether a person has been compelled does not rest solely on the effect which the presence of a police officer might have on the mind of the person
ILR  Willis p 524 AIR 1955 Cal 247
Even a direction under section 73 Evidence Act would not amount to compulsion
AIR 1958 All 119 Merely because a person who makes a statement is in police custody it cannot be inferred that compulsion has been used
Willis p 521
Observations in Sharma s case with regard to the words to be a witness are excessive
It would be useful to see what is the American fifth amendment
To be a witness means that a person either says something or writes something which he knows
He must depose or write as to something of which he has knowledge
In giving a thumb impression or specimen writing a person does not say or write anything against himself
section M Sikri Advocate General Punjab N section Bindra and D Gupta for respondent in Cr
Nos 110 and 111 of 58
Section 5 of the  permits the obtaining of finger prints of an accused person by order of a Magistrate
This is not hit by article 20 3
Article 20 3 does not apply to the stage of investigation
It only prohibits the compulsory examination or famishing of incriminatory statements or communication by the accused
It does not include the compulsory production of documents
Even if article 20 3 prohibits the compulsory production of documents it does not prohibit the compulsory 15 examination of the body of the accused or any part of it
In order to test whether there has been compulsion or not it is the nature of the action of the authority or court that determines the question and not the state of mind of the accused
The privilege granted to an accused person under Art 20 3 is by its nature capable of waiver and if there is no protest it is deemed to have been waived
The Article deals with the stage of conviction
Wigmore vol
8 p276 304 317 and 319
 109  and 1030
The word  witnesses should be given its natural interpretation
The original rule in England was that you will not be put in court and compelled to give evidence against yourself and referred only to testimony given in court
Article 20 3 gives the same guarantee
Wigmore vol 8 p 623 Phipson on Evidence 9th Edition p214
It protects extraction of incriminatory statements or communi cations but not the exhibition of body or any part of it for examination
Merely handing over of a document is not covered by the guarantee as it does not amount to communication
 There is no compulsion if the witness or accused does not object
  76 LEd211   Wigmore vol 8 p 399
section M Bose Advorate General for the State of West Bengal B Sen and P K Bose for appellant in Cr
174 of 1959
The question concerned in Cr A No 174 of 1959 is whether the obtaining of specimen handwriting under s73 of the Evidence Act amounts to testimonial compulsion
Decision  which hold that it is so are  A 1
R 1957 M P73 A I R 1959 M P 411 A I R 1960 Ker392 A I R Willoughby vol
2 para 720 29 LEd
Testimonial compulsion means that you cannot make a witness say what he does not want to say in court
Section 118 Evidence Act indicates that testify means to make statements in Court and not statements outside court
Article 203 applies only to oral statements made before the court
section P Verma for respondent in Cr
A No 1461958
Sharma s case puts the right construction on article 203
The question of inconvenience should not be taken into consideration
 Article 203 could be split up into 6 components i e i No person ii accused of an offence iii shall be compelled iv to be v to be a witness and vi to be a witness against himself
In the present case it is not necessary to discuss i
ii indicates a time whenever incrimination is eminent and the guarantee comes into play  Accused of an offence is merely descriptive of the person
Whenever a person is accused nothing obtained from him by compulsion can be used against him
    Accused of an offence does not mean accused at the time when a person is compelled to provide evidence
A I R iii In case of police custody there is irrefutable presumption of compulsion
A I R
In other cases it may be a question of fact whether there was compulsion or not
Compulsion means an act which is involuntary under threat coercion or inducement
It has to be seen what has motivated the act
Compulsion means any non voluntary positive act not of free volition
iv The words used are to be and not to appear
This brings in the idea of all kinds of testimony evidence and removes all restrictions as to time and place
v To be a witness means to furnish evidence
Wigmore 8th vol
p362
Best on Evidence p 11 2
Phipson p 2  AIR 1960 Ker
392 American Jurisprudence vol
58 p 57
To be a witness against himself means to do a positive act which would incriminate him
AIR 1956 Mad 165
Compelling the production of any sort of evidentiary document which is likeiy to help the prosecution 17 is hit by the guarantee
The object of the guarantee is not to let a person degrade himself  ILR 1957 Cutt 200
R C Datta for Intervener No 3
P section Safeer and R section Gheba for appellant in Cr
Nos 110 and 111 of 1958
The words used in article 203 are not appear as a witness against himself
 It covers the stage of investigation also and protects all action of an accused person that may be used against him at the trial
Section 6 of the Prisoners Identification Act makes a person who refused to give his photograph or measurement guilty of an offence
No person can waive the fundamental right guaranteed under article 203
 Any part of the evidence contributed to by the accused under compulsion is hit by the guarantee
H R Khanna in reply
Sections 1 118132 and 139 of the Evidence Act show that the words to be a witness means giving evidence in court and must he restricted to judicial proceedings
The mere fact that an accused person is in police custody does not raise any presumption
that compulsion has been used
August 4
The Judgment of Sinha C J Imam Gajendragadkar Subba Rao Wanchoo Raghubar Dayal Rajagopala Ayyangar and Mudholkar JJ was delivered by SINHA C J
These appeals have been beard together only insofar as they involve substantial questions of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution with particular reference to cl3 of article 20
This larger Bench was constituted in order to reexamine some of the propositions of law laid down by this Court in the case of MP Sharma vs
Sathish Chandra1because when one of the cases was heard by five of us we felt that 1  18 some of the propositions therein laid down may have been too widely stated and therefore required to be restated with more particularity
We have not heard counsel for the parties ion the merits of the orders passed by the Courts below but have confined the discussions at the Bar insofar as they had any bearing on the questions of law relating to the interpretation of el
3 of article 20 of the Constitution
It is not necessary to state in any detail the facts of each of the cases now before us
We shall therefore state only so much of the facts as have Occasioned calling in aid of the provisions of el
3 of article 20 of the Constitution
In the first case namely Criminal Appeal 146 of 1958 the
State of Bombay is the appellant
The respondent was charged alongwith another person under section 302 read with section 34 of the 1
P C as also under section 19e of the Indian Arms Act XI of 1878
The Trial Court found him guilty of those charges and sentenced him to imprisonment for life under section 302 read with section 34 of the IPC and to
a term of two years rigorous imprisonment for the
offence under the Arms Act
At the trial the identification of the respondent as one of the two alleged culprits was the most important question to be decided by the Court
Besides other evidence the prosecution adduced in evidence a chit exhibit 5 alleged to be in his handwriting and said to have been given by him
In order to prove that exhibit 5 was in the handwriting of the respondent the police had obtained from him during the investigation three specimen handwritings of his on three separate sheets of paper which were marked as Exs 27 28 and 29
The disputed document namely Ex5 was compared with the admitted handwritings on Exs 27 28 and 29 by the Handwriting Expert whose evidence was to the effect that they are all writings by the same person
At the trial and in the High Court 19 the question was raised as to the admissibility of the specimen writings contained in Exs 27 28 and 29 in view of the provisions of article 203 of the Constitution
It is an admitted fact that those specimen writings of the accused had been taken by the police while he was in police custody but it was disputed whether the accused had been compelled to give those writings within
the meaning of cl
3 of article 20
The plea of the accused that he was forced by the Deputy Superintendent of Police to give those writings has not been accepted by the learned Trial Judge
But those documents have been excluded from consideration as inadmissible evidence on the ground that though there was no threat or force used by the police in obtaining those writings farm the accused person yet in the view of the Court the element of compulsion was implicit in his being at that time in police custody
 In this conclusion both the Trial Judge and the High Court have agreed
The identification of the accused person was also sought to be proved by the evidence of witnesses who identified him at an identification parade
But the holding of the identification parade has not been sought to be brought within the prohibition of cl
3 of article 20
After eliminating the Exs 27 28 and 29 from their consideration the High Court on a consideration of the other evidence in the case came to the conclusion that the identity of the respondent had not been established beyond a reasonable doubt
Hence giving him the benefit of doubt they acquitted him
The State of Bombay moved this Court and obtained special leave to appeal from the Judgment and Order of acquittal passed by the High Court
On these facts the only questions of constitutional importance that this Bench has to determine are 1 whether by the production of the specimen handwritings Exs
27 28 and 29 the accused could be said to have been a witness against himself  within the meaning of article 203 of the 20 Constitution and 2 whether the were fact that when those specimen handwritings had been given the accused person was in police custody could by itself amount to compulsion apart from any other circumstances which could be urged as vitiating the consent of the accused in giving those specimen handwritings
This Bench is not concerned with the further ques tion whether in all the circumstances closed by the evidence in this case the accused could be said to have been compelled as a matter of fact to give
those specimens
In Criminal Appeals 110 and 111 of 1958 which arose out of the same set of facts the accused person has been convicted by the Courts below under sections 380 and 457 of the IPC as also under
s19f of the Indian Arms Act
The facts of the case necessary for bringing out the points in controversy are that a shop in Hissar in Punjab was burgled
In the course of the burglary four double barrelled guns one single barrelled gun and a rifle were stolen
During his interrogation by the police at the investigation stage the appellant is alleged to have given the information that out of the arms stolen from the shop at Hissar he had buried one 22 bore rifle two 12 bore doublebarrelled gunk and one 18 single barrelled gun at a certain place
It is alleged that as a consequence of the information thus given by the accused and on his pointing out the exact location where these buried articles could be found the rifles and guns were actually recovered
During the investigation the police had taken possession of certain glass panes and phials from the burgled shop which bore some palm and finger impressions Exs
P10 to P12 In order to compare the impressions on those glass panes and phials with those of the accused the investigation police officer got the impressions of the palms and fingers of the accused taken in the presence of a Magistrate
On the evidence adduced by the prosecutionincluding the 21 fact of the recovery of the firearms and the evidence of the identity of the impressions of the accused taken as aforesaid he was convicted and sentenced by the Courts below to certain terms of imprisonment and was also ordered to pay a fine of one thousand rupees
On appeal the sentence of fine and imprisonment was modified by the Court of Appeal
In revision in the High Court both the revisional applications were dismissed
The convicted person prayed for and obtained the necessary certificate of fitness under article 1341 e of the Constitution from the High Court of Punjab
The points raised in this Court were 1 that section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act is violative of article 14 of the Constitution and 2 the impressions of the appellant s palms and fingers taken from him after his arrest which were compared with the impressions on the glass panes and phials were not admissible evidence in view of the provisions of article 203 of the Constitution
Though the provisions of sections 5 and 6 of the  XXXIII of 1920 have not in terms been attacked as ultra vires article 203 of the Constitution the effect of the argument based on that article is to bring into controversy the constitutionality of sections 5 and 6 of the Act
As a matter of fact one of the propositions of law to be urged in support of the appeals is stated in these terms that sections 5 and 6 of the  read with article 203 of the Constitution render the evidence of measurements to be inadmissible
In the last case Criminal Appeal 174 of 1959 the State of West Bengal has preferred this appeal by special leave granted by this Court under article 1361 of the Constitution against the judgment and order of the High Court at Calcutta dated June 4 1959 passed in its revisional jurisdiction against an order of the Magistrate First Class Howrah directing the respondent to give his 22 specimen writing and signature under section 73 of the Indian Evidence Act
It is only necessary to state the following facts in order to bring out the questions of law bearing on the interpretation of the Constitution
During the investigation of a criminal case relating to trafficking in contraband opium the respondent s residence was searched and certain quantity of contraband opium was alleged to have been found in his possession
The respondent along with another person was produced before a Magistrate of the first Class at Howrah and was later released on bail
from the materials and statements obtained during the investigation of the case by the police it was considered that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the endorsement on the  back of certain railway receipts for consignment of goods seized at Howrah Railway Station was in the handwriting of the respondent and it was therefore necessary to take his specimen writing and signature for the purpose of comparison and verification
When the accused were produced before the Magistrate the Investigating Officer made a prayer to the Magistrate for taking specimen writing and signature of the respondent
On an adjourned date when the accused persons including the respondent were present in the Court of the Magistrate the respondent declined to give his specimen writing and signature contending that article 20 3 of the Constitution prohibited any such specimens being taken against the will of the accused
After bearing the parties the learned Magistrate overruled the objection on behalf of the accused and allowed the prayer by the prosecution for taking the specimen writing and signature of the respondent
The respondent moved the High Court at Calcutta under section 439 of the Cr
PC and article 227 of the Constitution
The case was heard by a Division Bench consisting of JP Mitter and Bhattacharyya JJ on July 2 and 3 1958 but the judgment was not delivered until the 23 4th of June 1959
The Court held that the prohibition contained in article 20 3 of the Constitution applied to the case of writing and signature to be taken as directed by the learned Magistrate
The Court
relied upon the decision of this Court in MP Sharma s case1 In coming to this conclusion the Division Bench disagreed with the previous decision of another Division Bench of that Court in the case of Sailendra Nath Sinha vs The State 2 which had laid down that a mere direction under s73 of the Evidence Act to a person accused of an offence to give his specimen writing did not come within the prohibition of article 20 3 of the Constitution
The earlier Bench further held that the decision of this Court in Sharma s case2 referred to above did not govern the case of direction given by the Court under s73 of the Evidence Act for giving specimen writing
Instead of referring the question to a larger Bench the later Division Bench took upon itself to pronounce against the considered view of that Court in the earlier decision
The State of West Bengal naturally had to come up to this Court to get the constitutional issues determined because the issues raised were of far reaching importance in the investigation and trial of criminal cases
The main question which arises for determination in this appeal is whether a direction given by a Court to an accused person present in Court to give his specimen writing and signature for the purpose of comparison under the provisions of s73 of the Indian Evidence Act infringes the fundamental right enshrined in article 20 3 of the Constitution
The arguments at the Bar may be classified as taking three distinct lines
The first line on the one extreme may be said to have been taken by Mr Sikri the Advocate General of Punjab and which may be characterised as a narrow view 1  2 1955 A 1
R Cal
24 runs as follows Cl
3 aforesaid in view of its setting its history and the policy underlying the privilege accorded by the Constitution to an accused person should not be applied at he stage of investigation of an offence
It should be confined to cases of compulsory extraction of incriminating statements or communications by an accused person in Court the expression compelled to be a witness  being understood as meaning being compelled to give oral testimony 
It does not include the compulsory production of documents
Similarly it does not prohibit the compulsory
exhibition or examination of the body of the accused or any part of it or the taking of specimen writ ing thumb impression of the palm or the feet or the fingers of an caused
Whether or not there has been compulsion should be judged by the nature of the action taxi by the authority or the Court that determines the controversy and not the state of mind of the accused
On the other extreme is the argument by Mr SP Varma for the accused in the first case who contended that the clause aforesaid of the Constitution gives complete protection of the widest amplitude to an accused person irrespective of the time and place and of the nature of the evidence whether it is oral or documentary or material
The extreme form which his argument took can best be stated in his own words as follows  Anything caused by any kind of threat or inducement to be said or done by a person accused or likely to be accused of any
offence by non voluntary positive act or speech of that person which furthers he cause of any prosecution against him or which results or is likely to result in the incrimination of hat person qua any offence is violative of the fundamental right guaranteed under el
of article 20 of the Constitution of India According to his argument if an accused person makes any statement or any discovery there 25 is not only a rebuttable presumption that he had been compelled to do so but that it should be taken as a conclusive proof of that inferential fact
Any kind of inducement according to him is also included in the expression compulsion  by the police or elsewhere
The test according to him is not the volition of the accused but the incriminatory nature of the statement or communi cation
Hence any statement made to a police officer while in police custody brings the same within the prohibitory ambit of the clause of the Constitution
On the face of them the propositions propounded by Mr Varma are much too broadly and widely stated to be accepted
The third view which may be characterised as an intermediate view was advocated by the learned Attorney General appearing for the Union
According to him a person seeking protection under the clause must satisfy II the four constituent elements contained in cl
3 of article 20 namely 1 he must be an accused person 2 be must have been compelled 3 the compulsion must be to be a witness and 4 against himself
Compulsion according to him means coercion or constraint and does not include mere asking by the police to do a certain thing or the direction by a court to give a thumb impression or specimen writing
In other words compulsion has to be equated to what has been sometimes characterised as  third degree methods to extort confessional statements
To be a witness is an expression which must be understood in consonance with the existing law of evidence and criminal procedure eg ss 27 and 73 of the Evidence Act and sections 94 and 96 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
Though according to English Law the expression is confined to oral testimony he was prepare to go to the length of conceding that any statement whether oral or in writing by an accused person transmitting his knowledge disclosing relevant 26 facts of which he was aware would amount to bring a witness  against himself
But mere production of some material evidence by itself could not come within the ambit of the expression to be a witness  The several questions for decision arising out of this batch of cases have to be answered with reference to the provisions of cl
3 of article 20 of the Constitution which is in these terms  No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself These provisions came up for consideration by the Full Court in the case of M P Sharma V Satish Chandra
1 Though the question directly arising for decision in that case was whether a search and seizure of documents under the provisions of sections 94 and 96 of the Code of Criminal Procedure came within the ambit of the prohibition of cl
3 of article 20 of the Constitution this Court covered a much wider field Besides laying down that the search and seizure complained of in that case were not within the prohibition this Court examined the origin and scope of the doctrine of protection against self incrimination with reference to English Law and the Constitution of the United States of America with particular reference to the Fourth and Fifth Amendments
On an examination of the case law in England and America and the standard text books on Evidence like Phipson and Wigmore and other authorities this Court observed as follows  Broadly stated the guarantee in Art203 is against testimonial compulsion
It is suggested that this is confined to the oral evidence of a person standing his trial for an offence when called to the witness stand We can see no reason to confine the content of the constitutional guarantee to this barely literal import
So to limit it would 1  27 be to rob the guarantee of its substantial purpose and to miss the substance for the sound as stated in certain American decisions
The phrase used in article 203 is to be a witness
A person can be a witness not merely by giving oral evidence but also by producing documents or making intelligible gestures as in the case of a dumb witness see section 119 of the Evidence Act or the like
To be a witness is nothing more than to furnish evidence and such evidence can be furnished through lips or by production of a thing or of a document or in other modes
So far as production of documents is concerned no doubt section 139 of the Evidence Act says that a person producing a document on summons is not a witness But that section is meant to regulate the right of cross examination
It is not a guide to the connotation of the word witness which must be  understood in its natural sense ie as referring to a person who furnishes evidence
Indeed every positive volitional act which furnishes evidence is testimony and testi monial compulsion connotes coercion which procures the positive volitional evidentiary acts of the person as opposed to the negative attitude of silence or submission on his part
Nor is there any reason to think that the  protection in respect of the evidence so procured is confined to what transpires at the trial in the court room
The phrase used in article 203 is to be a witness and not to  appear as a witness  It follows that the protection afforded to an accused in so far as it is related to the phrase to be a witness is not merely in respect of testimonial com pulsion in the court room but may well extend to compelled testimony previously obtained from him
It is available therefore  to a person against whom a formal accusation 28 relating to the commission of an offence has been levelled which in the normal course may result in prosecution
Whether it is avail able to other persons in other situations does not call for decision in this case This Court did not accept the contention at the guarantee against testimonial compulsion to be confined to oral testimony at the witness stand when standing trial for an of Fence
The guarantee was thusheld to include not only oral testimony given in court or out of court but also to statements in writing which incriminated the maker when figuring as an accused person
After having heard elaborate arguments for and against the views thus expressed by this Court after full deliberation we do not find any good reasons for departing from those views
But the Court went on to observe that  to be a witness means to furnish evidence and includes not only oral testimony or statements in writing of the accused but also production of a thing or of evidence by other modes
It may be that this Court did not intend to lay down certainly it was not under discussion of the Court as a point directly arising for decision that calling upon a person accused of an offence to give his thumb impression his impression of palm or fingers or of sample handwriting or signature comes within the ambit of to be a witness which has been equated to to furnish evidence
Whether or not this Court intended to lay down the rule of law in those wide terms has been the subject matter of decisions in the different High Courts in this country
Those decisions are by no means uniform  and conflicting views have been expressed even in the same High Court on different occasions
It will serve no useful purpose to examine those decisions in detail
It is enough to point out that the most recent decision to which our attention was called is of a Full Bench of the Kerala High Court in the case of State of Kerala 29 vs KK Sankaran Nair1
In that case Ansari C J who delivered the opinion of the Court has made reference to and examined in detail the pronouncements of the different High Courts
Ultimately he came to the conclusion that the decision of this Court in Sharma s Case 2 also covered the case of a specimen handwriting given by an accused person under compulsion
To be a witness may be equivalent to furnishing evidence in the sense of making oral or written statements but not in the larger sense of the expression so as to include giving of thumb impression or impression of palm or foot or fingers or specimen writing or exposing a part of the body by an accused person for purpose of identification
Furnishing evidence in the latter sense could not have been within the contemplation of the Constitution makers for the simple reason that though they may have intended to protect an accused person from the hazards of self incrimination in the light of the English Law on the subject they could not have intended to put obstacles in the way of efficient and effective investigation into crime and of bringing criminals to justice
The taking of impressions or parts of the body of an accused person very often becomes necessary to help the investigation of a crime
It is as much necessary to protect an accused person against being compelled to incriminate himself as to arm the agents of law and the law courts with legitimate powers to bring offenders to justice
Further more it must be assumed that the Constitution makers were aware of the existing law for example s73 of the Evidence Act or sections 5 and 6 of the Identification of prisoners Act XXXIII of 1920Section 5 authorises a Magistrate to direct any person to allow his measurements or photographs to be 1AIR1960 Kerala 392 21954 SCR1077
30 taken if he is satisfied that it is expedient for the purposes of any investigation or proceeding under the Code of Criminal Procedure to do so Measurements  include finger impressions and foot print impressions
If any such person who is directed by a Magistrate under section 5 of the Act to allow his measurements or photographs to be taken resists or refuses to allow the taking of the measurements or photographs it has been declared lawful by section 6 to use all necessary means to secure the taking of the required measurements or photographs
Similarly s73 of the Evidence Act authorises the Court to permit the taking of finger impression or a specimen handwriting or signature of a person present in Court if necessary for the purpose of comparison
The matter maybe looked at from another point of view
The giving of finger impression or of specimen signature or of handwriting strictly speaking is not to be a witness
To be a witness means imparting knowledge in respect of relevant fact by means of oral statements or statements in writing by a person who has personal knowledge of the facts to be communicated to a court or to a person holding an enquiry or investigation
A person is said to be a witness to a certain state of facts which has to be determined by a court or authority authorised to come to a decision by testifying to what he has seen or something he has heard which is capable of being beard and is not hit by the rule excluding hearsay or giving his opinion as an expert in respect of matters in controversy
Evidence has been classified by text writers into three categories namely 1 oral testimony 2 evidence furnished by documents and 3 material evidence
We have already indicated that we are in agreement with the Full Court decision in Sharma s case 1 that the prohibition in cl3 of Art20 covers not only oral testimony given by a person accused of an offence but also 1  31 his written statements which may have a bearing on the controversy with reference to the charge against him
The accused may have documentary evidence in his possession which may throw some light on the controversy
If it is a document which is not his statement conveying his personal knowledge relating to the charge against him he may be called upon by the  Court to produce that document in accordance
with the provisions of s139 of the Evidence Act which in terms provides that a person may be summoned to produce a document in his possession Cur power and that he does not become a witness by the mere fact that he has produced it and therefore lie cannot be cross examined
Of course he can be cross examined if he is called as a witness who has made statements conveying his personal knowledge by reference to the contents of the document or if he his given his statements in Court otherwise than by reference to the contents of the documents
In our opinion therefore the observations of this Court in Sharma s case that s139 of the Evidence Act has no bearing on the connotation of the word witness  is not entirely well founded in law
It is well established that cl3 of Art20 is directed against self incrimination by an accused person
Self incrimination must mean conveying information based upon the personal knowledge of the person giving the information and cannot include merely the mechanical process of producing documents in court which may throw a light on any of the points in controversy but which do not contain any statement of the accused based on his personal knowledge
For example the accused person may be in possession of a document which is in his writing or which contains his signature or his thumb impression
The production of such a document with a view to comparison of the writing or the signature or the impression is not the statement of 1  32 an accused person which can be said to be of the nature of a personal testimony
When an accused person is called upon by the Court or any other authority holding an investigation to give his finger impression or signature or a specimen of his handwriting he is not giving any testimony of the nature of a personal testimony 
The giving of a personal testimony  must depend upon his volition
He can make any kind of statement or may refuse to make any statement
But his finger impressions or his handwriting in spite of efforts at concealing the true nature of it by dissimulation cannot change their intrinsic character
Thus the giving of finger impressions or of specimen writing or of signatures by an accused person though it may amount to furnishing evidence in the larger sense is not included within the expression to be a witness 
In order that a testimony by an accused person may be said to have been self incriminatory the compulsion of which comes within the prohibition of the constitutional provision it must be of such a  characterthat byitselfit should have the tendency of incriminating the accused if riot also of actually doing so
In other wordsit should be a statement which makes the case against the accused person atleast probable considered by itself
A specimen handwriting or signature or finger impressions by themselves are no testimony at all being wholly innocuous because they are unchangeable except in rare cases where the ridges of the fingers or the style of writing have been tampered with
They are only materials for comparison in order to lend assurance to the Court that its inference based on other pieces of evidence is reliable
They are neither oral nor documentary evidence but belong to the third category of material evidence which is outside the limit of testimony 
Similarlyduring the investigation of a crime 33 by the police if an accused person were to point out the place where the corpus delicti was lying concealed and in pursuance of such an information being given by an accused person discovery is made within the meaning of section 47 of the Evidence Act such information and the discovery made as a result of the information may be proved in evidence even though it may tend to incriminate the person giving the information while in police custody
Unless it is held that the provisions of section 27 of the Evidence Act in so far as they make it admissible evidence which has the tendency to incriminate the giver of the information are unconstitutional as coming within the prohibition of el
3 of article 20 such information would amount to furnishing evidence
This Court in Sharma s case 1 was not concerned with pronouncing upon the constitutionality of the provisions of section 27 of the Evidence Act
It could not therefore be said to have laid it down that such evidence could not be adduced by the prosecution at the trial of the giver of the information for an alleged crime
The question whether section 27 of the Evidence Act was unconstitutional because it offended article 14 of the Constitution was considered by this court in the case of State of U P vs Deomen Upadhyaya2
It was held by this Court that section 27 of the Evidence Act did not offend article 14 of the Constitution and was therefore intra vires
But the question whether it was unconstitutional because it contravened the provisions of el
3 of article 20 was not considered in that case
That question may therefore be treated as an open one
The question has been raised in one of the cases before us and has therefore to be decided
The information given by an accused person to a police
officer leading to the discovery of a fact which may or may not prove incriminatory has been made admissible in evidence by that Section
If it is not incriminatory of the person giving the 1  2 1961 1 SCR14
34 information the question does not arise
It can arise only when it is of an incriminatory character so far as the giver of the information is concerned
If the self incriminatory information has been given by an accused person without any threat that will be admissible in evidence and that will not be hit by the provisions of el
3 of article 20 of the Constitution for the reason that there has been no compulsion
It must therefore be held that the provisions of section 27 of the Evidence Act are not within the prohibition aforesaid unless compulsion has been used in obtaining the information
In this connection the question was raised before us that in order to bring the case within the prohibition of cl
3 of article 20 it is not necessary that the statement should have been made by the accused person at a time when he fulfilled that character  it is enough that he should have been an accused person at the time when the statement was sought to be proved in Court even though he may not have been an accused person at the time he had made that statement
The correctness of the decision of the Constitution Bench of this Court in the case of Mohamed Dastagir vs The State of Madras 1 was questioned because it was said that it ran counter to the observations of the Full Court in Sharma s Case
2 In the Full Court decision of this Court this question did not directly arise  nor was it decided
On the other hand this Court in Sharma s case2 held that the protection under article 20 3 of the Constitution is available to a person against whom a formal accusation had been levelled inasmuch as a First Information Report had been lodged against him
Sharma s case 2 therefore did not decide anything to the contrary of what this Court said in Mohamed Dastagir vs The State of Madras
1  2  35 The latter decision in our opinion lays down the law correctly
In order to bring the evidence within the inhibitions of cl
3 of article 20 it must be shown not only that the person making the statement was an accused at the time he made it and that it had a material bearing on the criminality of the maker of the statement but also that be was compelled to make that statement
Compulsion  in the context must mean what in law is called duress 
In the Dictionary of English Law by Earl Jowitt duress  is explained as follows
  Duress is where a man is compelled to do an act by injury beating or unlawful imprisonment sometimes called duress in strict sense or by the threat of being killed suffering some grievous bodily harm or being unlawfully imprisoned sometimes called menace or duress per minas
Duress also includes threatening beating or imprisonment of the wife parent or child of a person
 The compulsion in this sense is a physical objective act and not the state of mind of the person making the statement except where the mind has been so conditioned by some extraneous process as to render the making of the statement involuntary and therefore extorted
Hence the mere asking by a police officer investigating a crime against a certain individual to do a certain thing is not compulsion within the meaning of article 20 3
Hence the mere fact that the accused person when he made the statement in question was in police custody would not by itself be the foundation for an inference of law that the accused was compelled to make the statement
Of course it is open to an accused person to show that while he was in police custody at the relevant time he was subjected to treatment which in the circumstances of the case 36 would lend itself to the inference that corapulsion was in fact exercised
In other words it will be a question of fact in each case to  determined by the Court on weighing the facts and circumstances disclosed in the evidence before it 
In view of these considerations we have come to the following conclusions  1 An accused person cannot be said to have been compelled to be a witness against himself simply because he made a statement while in police custody without anything more  In other words the mere fact of being in police custody at the time when the statement in question was made would not by itself as a proposition of law lend itself to the inference that the accused was compelled to make the statement though that fact in conjunction with other circumstances disclosed in evidence in a particular case would be a relevant consideration in an enquiry whether or not the accused person had been compelled to make the impugned statement
2 The mere questioning of an accused person by a police officer resulting in a voluntary statement which may ultimately turn out to be incriminatory is not compulsion 
3 To be a witness  is not equivalent to garnishing evidence  in its widest significance  that is to say as including not merely making of oral or written statements but also production of documents or giving materials which may be relevant at a trial to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused
4 Giving thumb impressions or impressions of foot or palm or fingers or specimen writings or showing parts of the body by way of identification were not included in the expression to be a witness 37 5 To be a witness  means imparting knowledge in respect of relevant facts by an oral statement or a statement in writing made or given in Court or otherwise
6 To be a witness  in its ordinary grammatical sense means giving oral testimony in Court
Case law has gone beyond this strict literal interpretation of the expression which may now bear a wider meaning namely bearing testimony in Court or out of Court by a person accused of an offence orally or in writing
7 To bring the statement in question within the prohibition of article 203 the person accused must have stood in the character of an accused person At the time he made the statement
It is not enough that he should become an accused any time after the statement has been made
The appeals will now be listed for hearing on merits in accordance with the above principles
The Judgment of section K Das Sarkar and Das Gupta JJwas delivered by DAS GUPTA J Is a person compelled to be a witness against himself within the meaning of Art203 of the Constitution when he is compelled to give his specimen handwriting or signature or impressions of his fingers palm or foot to the investing officer Is he compelled to be a witness against himself within the meaning of the same constitutional provisions when he is compelled to give his specimen handwriting and signature for the purpose of comparison under the provisions of section 73 of the Indian Evidence Act These Are the main questions canvassed before us and they have both been answered in the negative in the judgment just pronounced by my Lord the Chief Justice
We agree with these answers but as we have reached the same conclusion by a 38 somewhat different approach and for different reasons these have to be briefly indicated
The question as regards the meaning to be attached to the words to be a witness as used in Art203 of the Constitution  came up for consideration in MP Sharma s Case 1
It was heard by all the eight Judges who constituted the Court at the time and they came to a unanimous decision
The Court in that case had to decide whether search and seizure of documents under ss94 and 96 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is a compelled production of the same so as to infringe the provisions of Art203 of the Constitution
After pointing out that the guarantee in Art203 was against testimonial compulsion Jagannadhadas J speaking for the Court said The phrase used in Art203 is to be a witness
A person can be a witness not merely by giving oral evidence but also by producing documents or making intelligible gestures as in the case of a dumb witness see section 119 of the Evidence Act or the like
To be a witness is nothing more than  to furnish evidence and such evidence can be furnished through the lips or by production of a thing or of a document or in other modes
 He next observed that s139 of the Evidence Act which says that a person producing a document on summons is not a witness is really meant to regulate the right of cross examination and cannot be la guide to the connotation of the word witness in Art203 which must be understood in its natural sense ie as
referring to a person who furnishes evidence and then proceeded  Indeed every positive volitional act which furnishes evidence is testimony 1  39 and testimonial compulsion connotes coercion which procures the positive volitional evidentiary acts of the person as opposed to the negative attitude of silence or submission on his part
It was further stated that there was no reason to think that the protection in respect of the evidence so procured was confined to what transpired at the trial in the court room
If the learned Judges had hoped that by their exhaustive judgment they would end all disputes about the limits of the protection granted by article 20 3 these hopes were soon shattered
Questions were before long raised before the different High Courts as to whether on the interpretation of the words to be a witnes given by this Court in Sharma s Case compelling an accused person to give his finger prints or impressions of palm or foot or a specimen handwriting in the course of investigation amounted to an infringement of article 203
The conclusions reached by the different High Courts and in one case at least by two Benches of the same High Court were different
That is why it has become necessary to examine the question again and see how far if at all
the interpretation given in Sharma s Case1 requires modification
The complaint against the interpretation given in Sharma s Case1 is that it does not solve the problem as to what the words to be a witness mean but merely postpones the difficulty of solving it by substituting the words to furnish evidence for the words to be a witness
It throws no light
it is said on what is furnishing evidence and unless that is clear little is gained by saying that to be a witness is to furnish evidence
Rival interpretations were suggested before us which it was claimed on behalf of the protagonists will solve the problem once for all
1  40 One of the propositions put forward was that to be a witness as used in article 203 cannot refer to anything said or done at the stage of investigation of an offence
We agree with our learned brethren that this is an unduly narrow construction
As was pointed out in Sharma s Case1 the phrase used in article 203 is to be a witness and not to appear as a witness
That by itself justifies the conclusion that the protection afforded to an accused in so far as it is related to the phrase to be a witness is not merely in respect of testimonial compulsion in the court room but may well extend to compelled testimony previously obtained from him
If the protection was intended to be confined to being a witness in Court then really it would have been an idle protection
It would be completely defeated by compelling a person to give all the evidence outside court and then having what he was so compelled to do proved in court through other witnesses
An interpretation which so completely defeats the constitutional guarantee cannot of course be correct
The contention that the protection afforded by article 203 is limited to the stage of trial must therefore be rejected
That brings us to the suggestion that the expression to be a witness must be limited to a statement whether oral or in writing by an accused person imparting knowledge of relevant facts but that mere production of some material evidence whether docum entary or otherwise would not come within the ambit of this expression
This suggestion has found favour with the majority of the Bench we think however that this
is an unduly narrow interpretation
We have to remind ourselves that while on the one hand we should bear in mind that the Constitution makers could not have intended to stifle legitimate modes of investigation we have to remember further that quite clearly they thought that certain things should not be 1  41 allowed to be clone during the investigation or trial however helpful they might seem to be to the unfolding of truth and an unnecessary apprehension of disaster to the police system A and the administration of justice should not deter us from giving the words their proper meaning
appears to us that to limit the meaning of the words to be a witness in article 203 in the manner suggested would result in allowing compulsion to be used in procuring the production from the accused of a large number of documents which are of evidentiary value sometimes even more so than any oral statement of a witness might be
Suppose for example an accused person has in his possession a letter written to him by an alleged co conspirator in reference to their common intention in connection with the conspiracy for committing a particular offence
Under section 10 of the Evidence Act this document is the relevant fact as against the accused himself for the purpose of proving the existence of the conspiracy and also for the purpose of showing that any such person was a party to it
By producing this the accused will not be imparting any personal knowledge of facts yet it would certainly be giving evidence of a relevant fact
Again the possession by an accused of the plan of a house where burglary has taken place would be a relevant fact under s8 of the Evidence Act as showing preparation for committing theft
By producing this plan is he not giving evidence against himself  To a person not overburdened with technical learning the giving of evidence would appear to be the real function of a witness
Indeed English literature is replete with instances of the use of the word witness as meaning  evidence To give one example  Shakespeare s Horatio speaking to Hamlet says 42 Season your admiration for a while with an attent ear till I may deliver Upon the witness of these gentlemen This marvel to you Hamlet Act I Scene III There can be no doubt that to the ordinary user of English words the word witness is always associated with evidence so that to say that to be a witness is to furnish evidence is really to keep to the natural meaning of the words
But what is the purpose of evidence  Section 3 of the Indian Evidence Act defines evidence thus Evidence means and includes 1 all statements which the Court permits or requires to be made before it by witnesses in relation to matters of fact under inquiry such statements are called oral evidence 2 all documents produced for the inspection of the Court such documents are called documentary evidence
 Section 5 states that evidence may be given in any suit or proceeding of the existence or non existence of every fact in issue and of such other facts as are hereinafter declared to be relevant and of no others Then follow several sections laying down what are relevant facts
It is clear from the scheme of the various provisions dealing with the matter that the governing idea is that to be evidence the oral statement or a statement contained in a document shall have a tendency to prove a fact whether it be a fact in issue or a relevant fact which is sought to be proved
Though this definition of evidence is in respect of proceedings in Court it will be proper once we have come to the conclusion that the protection of article 203 is available even at the stage of investigation to hold that at that 43 stage also the purpose of having a witness is to obtain evidence and the purpose of evidence is to prove a fact
The illustrations we have given above show clearly that it is not only by imparting of his knowledge that an accused person assists the proving of a fact he can do so even by other means
 such as the production of documents which though not containing his own knowledge would have a tendency to make probable the existence of a fact in issue or a relevant fact
Much has been written and discussed in England and America as regards the historical origin and development of the rules against  testimonial compulsion
These matters of history however interesting they be need not detain us and we must also resist the temptation of referring to the numerous cases especially in America where the concept of  testimonial compulsion has been analysed
It is sufficient to remember that long before our Constitution came to be framed the wisdom of the policy underlying these rules had been well recognised
Not that there was no view to the contrary but for long it has been generally agreed among those who have devoted serious thought to these problems that few things could be more harmful to the detection of crime or conviction of the real culprit few things more likely to hamper the disclosure of truth than to  allow investigators or prosecutors to slide down the easy path of producing by compulsion evidence whether oral or documentary from an accused person
It has been felt that the existence of such an easy way would tend to dissuade persons in charge of investigation or prosecution from conducting diligent search for reliable independent evidence and from sifting of available materials with the care necessary ascertainment of truth
If it is permissible in law to obtain evidence from the 44 accused person by compulsion why tread the bard path of laborious investigation and prolonged examination of other men materials and documents It has been well said that an abolition of this privilege would be an incentive for those in charge of enforcement of law to sit comfortably in the shade rubbing red pepper into a poor devil s eyes rather than to go about in the sun hunt  up evidence
Stephen History of Criminal Law p 442
 No less serious is the danger that some accused persons at least may be induced to furnish evidence against themselves which is totally false out of sheer despair and an anxiety to avoid an unpleasant present
Of all these dangers the Constitution makers were clearly well aware and it was to avoid them that article 20 3 was put in the Constitution It is obvious however that these dangers remain the same whether the evidence which the accused is compelled to furnish is in the form of statements oral or written about his own knowledge or in the shape of documents or things which though not trans mitting knowledge of the accused person directly helps the Court to come to a conclusion against him
If production of such documents or things is giving evidence then the person producing it is being a witness on what principle or reason can it be said that this does not amount to  being a witness within the meaning of article 20 3  We find none
We can therefore find no justification for thinking that to be a witness in article 20 3 means to
impart personal knowledge and find no reason for departing from what this Court said in Sharma s Case1 that to be a witness is nothing more than to furnish evidence and such evidence be furnished through lips or by production of a thing or of a document or in other modes
The question then is 
Is an accused person furnishing evidence when he is giving his specimen 1  45 handwriting or impressions of his fingers or palm or foot  It appears to us that he is  For these are relevent
facts within the meaning of section 9 and a 11 of the Evidence Act
Just as an accused person is furnishing evidence and by doing so is being a witness when he makes a statement that he did something or saw something so also he is giving evidence and so is being a witness when he produces a letter the contents of which are relevant under s10 or is producing the plan of a house where a burglary has been committed or is giving his specimen handwriting or impressions of his finger palm or foot
It has to be noticed however that article 20 3 does not say that an accused person shall not be compelled to be a witness
It says that such a person shall not be compelled to be a witness against himself
The question that arises therefore is  Is an accused person furnishing evidence against himself when he gives his specimen handwriting or impressions of his fingers palm or foot 9 The answer to this must in our opinion be in the negative
The matter becomes clear when we contrast the giving of such handwriting or impressions with say the production of a letter admissible in evidence under section 10 or the production of the plan of a burgled house
In either of these two latter cases the evidence given tends by
itself to incriminate the accused person
But the evidence of specimen handwriting or the impressions of the accused person s fingers palm or foot will incriminate him only if on comparison of these with certain other handwritings or certain other impressions
 identity between the two sets is established
By themselves these impressions or the handwritings do not incriminate the accused person or even tend to do so
That is why it must be held that by giving these impressions or specimen handwriting the accused person does not furnish evidence against himself So when an 46 accused person is compelled to give a specimen handwriting or impressions of his fingerpahm or foot it may be said that he has been compelled to be a witness  it cannot however be said that he has been compelled to be a witness against himself
This view it may be pointed out does not in any way militate against the policy underlying the rule against testimonial compulsion we have already discussed above
There is little risk if at all in the investigator or the prosecutor being induced to lethargy or inaction because he can get such handwriting or impressions from an accused person
For by themselves they are of little or of no assistance to bring home the guilt of an accused
Nor is there any chance of the accused to mislead the investigator into wrong channels by furnishing false evidence
For it is beyond his power to alter the ridges or other characteristics of his hand palm or finger or to alter the characteristics of his handwriting
We agree therefore with the conclusion reached by the majority of the Bench that there is no infringement of Art203 of the Constitution by compelling an accused person to give his specimen handwriting or signature or impressions of his fingers palm or foot to the investigating officer or under orders of a court for the purpose of comparison under the provisions of s73 of the Indian Evidence Act though we have not been able to agree with the view of our learned brethren that to be a witness in Art203 should be equated with the imparting of personal knowledge or that an accused does not become a witness when he produces some document not in his own hand writing even though it may tend to prove facts in issue or relevant facts against him
In Criminal Appeals Nos 110  Ill of 1958 a further question as regards the validity of s27 of 47 the Evidence Act was raised
It was said that the receipt of information from an accused person in the custody of a police officer which can be proved under s27 is an infringement of Art203
Section 27 provides that when any fact is deposed to as discovered in consequence of Information received from a person accused of any offence in the custody of a police officer so much of the information whether it amounts to a confession or not as relates distinctly to the fact thereby discovered may be proved
It cannot be disputed that by giving such information the accused furnishes evidence and therefore is a witness during the investigation
Unless however he is  compelled to give the information he cannot be said to be compelled to be a witness and so article 203 is not infringed
Compulsion is not however inherent in the receipt of information from an accused person in the custody of a police officer
There may be cases where an accused in custody is compelled to give the information later on sought to be proved under s27
There will be other cases where the accused gives the information without any compulsion
Where the accused is compelled to give information it will be an infringement of article 203 but there is no such infringement where he gives the information without any compulsion
Therefore compulsion not being inherent or implicit in the fact of the information having been received from a person in custody the contention that section 27 necessarily infringes Art203 cannot be accepted
A question was raised in the course of the discussion as to when a person can be said to have been  compelled within the meaning of Art203
One view is that there must be an element of constraint or coercion in the physical sense before it can be said that an accused person has been compelled
The other view is that in addition to cases where there has been such constraint or coercion an accused should be said to have been 48 compelled to be a witness whenever there has been inducement or promise which persuaded the accused to be a witness even though there has been no such coercion or constraints In Criminal Appeals Nos 110 and 111 the information proved under s27 of the Evidence Act was that Pokhar Singh had buried certain fire arms in village Badesra under Toori and these were recovered when he pointed these out to the investigating police officer
This information was proved under s27
But it does not appear to have been suggested that the accused was made to give this information by inducement or threat or promise
On the facts therefore there is no question of the information having been received by compulsion
The question whether any inducement or promise which leads an accused person to give information amounts to compulsion or not does not therefor fall to be decided
It may be pointed out that in the other appeals viz Criminal Appeal No 146 of  1958 and Criminal Appeal No 174 of 1959 also this question does not arise for consideration in view of our conclusion that in any case the accused does not become a  witness against himself by giving his Specimen signatures or impressions of his fingers or Palms
It appears to us to be equally unnecessary to decide another question which was mooted in the course of the hearing viz whether the prohibition of Art203 operates only after a person has been accused of an offence or even before that stage
Admittedly in all these cases the person on whose behalf the protection under article 203 is claimed gave the specimen signatures or impressions of fingers or palms after he had been actually accused of an offence
We think it right therefore not to express any opinion on any of these questions


Summary:
Section 73 of the Indian Evidence Act empowers the court to obtain specimen writing or signature and finger impressions of an accused person for purposes of Comparison
11 Sections 5 and 6 of the Identification of Prisoners Act empower a Magistrate to obtain the photograph or measurements of an accused person
Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act permits the reception in evidence of statements made by an accused person in police custody which lead to a discovery
It was contended by the accused persons that the obtaining of evidence in any of these ways amounted to compelling the person accused of an offence to be a witness against himself in contravention of article 203 of the Constitution
It was further contended that it was implicitly the fact that the accused was in police custody when  the specimen signatures or thumb impressions etc
were obtained that compulsion was used
Held that there was no infringement of article 203 of the Constitution in compelling an accused person to give his specimen handwriting or signature or impressions of his thumb fingers palm or foot to the investigating officer or under orders of a court for the purposes of comparison
Held further that the provisions of section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act did not offend article 203 unless compulsion was used in obtaining the information
Compulsion was not inherent in the receipt of information from an accused person in the custody of a lice officer it will be a question of fact in each case to be determined by the court on the evidence before it whether compulsion had been used in obtaining the information
MP Sharma vs Satish Chandra   reconsidered
Per Sinha CJ Imam Gajendragadkar Subba Rao Wanchoo Raghubar Dayal Rajagopala Ayyangar and Mudholkar jj
The correct position with respect to the guarantee under article 203 is that i the guarantee includes not only oral testimony given in court or out of court but also statements in writing which incriminate the maker when figuring as an accused person ii the words to be a witness in article 203 do not include the giving of thumb impression or impression of palm foot or fingers or specimen writing or exposing a part of the body by an accused person for identification iii self incrimination means conveying information based upon the personal knowledge of the given and does not include the mere mechanical process of 12 producing documents in court which do not contain  any statement of the accused based on his personal knowledge iv in order to come within the prohibition of article 203 the testimony must be of such a character that by itself it should have the tendency to incriminate the accused and V to avail of the protection of article 203 the person must have stood in the character of an accused person at the time he made the statement
Per section K Das Sarkar and Das Gupta JJ i The protection afforded by article 203 is not merely in respect of testimonial compulsion in the court room but extends also to compelled testimony previously obtained from the accused
ii The words to be a witness in article 203 mean to furnish evidence and cannot be confined to imparting personal knowledge such evidence can be furnished through lips or by production of a thing or of a document or in other modes
iii An accused person furnishes evidence when he gives his specimen handwriting or impressions of his fingers or palm or foot
iv But in doing so the accused does not furnish evidence against himself as by themselves these specimens or impressions do not incriminate or even tend to incriminate the accused and he cannot be said to be compelled to be a witness against himself  when he is compelled to give the specimen or impression