Accused can't get e-copies of videographed statements: SC

Witness statements recorded through video conferencing cannot be given in an electronic form to the accused, the Supreme Court has said, adding that it would complicate the process.

Allowing an Irish rape victim to record her statement through video-conferencing from Indian Embassy in Dublin, a bench of Justices J S Khehar and R Banumathi rejected a plea by the Kolkata-based accused for an electronic copy of her version.

“We are of the view that furnishing recorded video-graphic testimony to an accused may eventually turn out to be a cumbersome process, if the same has to be replicated in all cases,” the bench said. The court said the procedure would lead to more records and create the problem of maintaining them safely.