Under section 161(3) Cr.P.C. the Police officer is to reduce in writing any statement made to him in the course of examination of any person supposed to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case.

 Under section 161(3) Cr.P.C. the Police officer is to reduce in writing any statement made to him in the course of examination of any person supposed to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case. The Police Officer is to make a separate record of the statement of each such person but in case the statement of such a person, recorded by the IO, is embodied in the case diary instead of being recorded separately, it is at best a procedural lapse on the part of the IO but the statement itself does not lose its character as a statement under section 161, Cr.P.C. The distinction between sections 161 and 172, Cr.P.C is that while one deals with the recording of the statement of witnesses / persons acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case, the other is the information or opinion of the IO which he gathers and forms during the course of the investigation. So if while recording his opinion in the case diary, the IO also records the statement of a witness, any such statement continues to pass for a statement under section 161 Cr.P.C. and does not become a part of the case diary under section 172 Cr.P.C.

Crl.P.952/2021
Muhammad Ramzan v. The State thr. P.G. Punjab and another
Mr. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah
08-10-2021