Hostile Witness
Definition
A witness who turns adverse to the party calling them. The court, on application, may permit cross-examination of one's own witness under BSA 2023 Section 157 (formerly IEA Section 154).
- Governing provision
- BSA 2023 Section 157
- Prior provision
- IEA Section 154
- Trigger
- Witness turns adverse to calling party
- Permission required
- Court application to cross-examine own witness
Common questions
How does declaring a witness hostile change how they can be examined?+
It allows the party who called the witness to cross-examine them, including asking leading questions and putting prior inconsistent statements to them, which is otherwise not permitted with one's own witness during examination-in-chief.
Does declaring a witness hostile automatically discredit their entire testimony?+
No. Courts have held that hostile testimony is not automatically wholly rejected, and the portions that are corroborated by other reliable evidence can still be relied upon, while the unreliable parts are discounted.
Related terms
- Admissibility
- Whether a piece of evidence is permitted to be placed before the fact-finder at all. Admissibility is a threshold question, decided by...
- Examination-in-Chief
- The questioning of a witness by the party who called them. For an expert, this is typically limited because the substance is...
- Expert
- A person specially skilled in foreign law, science, art, identity of handwriting or finger impressions, under BSA 2023 Section 39 (formerly IEA...
- High Court
- Constitutional court under Article 214, one for each state or group of states (25 High Courts as of 2026). Writ jurisdiction under...
- Magistrate Court
- Trial court for less serious offences. Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Second Class, and Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) under BNSS 2023.
- Pecuniary Jurisdiction
- Monetary limit on the suits a civil court can try (for example a Small Causes Court has a low pecuniary cap).
- Relevancy
- Logical connection of a fact with the fact in issue. Governed by BSA 2023 Sections 6 to 55 (carrying forward IEA Sections...
- Sessions Court
- Highest criminal court at district level under BNSS 2023. Tries offences punishable with death, life imprisonment or imprisonment exceeding seven years. Headed...
- Subject-Matter Jurisdiction
- Restriction by case type (POCSO court hears child sexual offences; MACT hears motor-accident claims; family court hears matrimonial disputes).
- Supreme Court of India
- Apex court under Article 124 of the Constitution. Original, appellate, advisory and writ jurisdiction. Seat at New Delhi; benches sit only by...
- Territorial Jurisdiction
- Geographic area within which a court can take cognisance. A theft in Pune is tried by a Pune court, not a Mumbai...