Bengaluru: A Supreme Court-appointed committee will hold a two-day consultation in the city starting Saturday to address concerns over the repeated use of the same individuals as witnesses in multiple criminal cases, commonly referred to as “stock witnesses”.The South Zone Consultation of the Stock Witnesses Reforms Committee, 2026, themed “credible witnesses, credible justice”, will be held at Karnataka Judicial Academy. The consultation is part of a nationwide exercise directed by SC to examine the use of stock witnesses in criminal investigations and develop a reliable mechanism to identify genuine witnesses at the investigation stage.A press release from the committee said the term stock witness generally refers to a person repeatedly cited by an investigating agency as a witness in different cases. However, the committee’s approach is not to treat every recurring witness as inherently unreliable. Instead, it seeks to strengthen the process of witness identification during investigation, rather than automatically excluding repeat witnesses during trial. The broader objective is to prevent the misuse of witnesses and ensure that criminal proceedings are based on genuine, verifiable and fairly collected evidence.The committee said the use of an unverified, coerced or otherwise unreliable witness can compromise the fairness and impartiality of an investigation, distort the evidentiary process and, in appropriate cases, have serious consequences on a person’s liberty and the constitutional guarantee of a fair trial under Article 21.The apex court constituted the committee through an order dated March 19, directing consultations with states, UTs and the Union govt to develop safeguards and a common minimum procedure for identifying genuine witnesses during investigation.Committee consultant Pururaj Aggarwal said the south zone consultation will bring together representatives from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, including police officers, prosecutors, defence lawyers and judicial officers.
