Bhubaneswar : There is no age limit for giving evidence. Children can also testify. The Supreme Court has said that the testimony of children is admissible just like the testimony of adults. The Supreme Court said this while accepting the testimony of a 7-year-old girl in a murder case and convicting the accused.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court had acquitted the accused in a murder case. In this case, the High Court had not accepted the testimony of the accused's daughter. The daughter had seen the accused when he killed his wife. But the High Court had said that the daughter's testimony was inadmissible. Later, the matter reached the Supreme Court. A bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra set aside the Madhya Pradesh High Court verdict. In addition, it convicted the accused on the basis of the testimony of the 7-year-old girl and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

The Supreme Court said that the Evidence Act does not specify any minimum age for the admission of evidence. Therefore, the testimony of children cannot be rejected. But the judge hearing the case should assess the credibility of the testimony of the child giving evidence. The judge must check whether the child was induced to give evidence by anyone by luring or influencing him. The Supreme Court said that the assessment of whether the testimony of the child is given voluntarily or under pressure from someone else is important.

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