Police officer test under evidence law extends to Abkari officers with full investigative powers; confessions to them are inadmissible.

An Abkari officer vested by the Bombay Abkari Act with powers of investigation, arrest, search and detention was treated as a police officer for Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act because the provision was construed broadly to protect against confessions obtained during custodial investigation. The officer's powers were materially similar to those exercised by an officer in charge of a police station, and earlier distinctions based on more limited authority did not apply. A confession made to such an officer during investigation is therefore inadmissible.

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Issues: Whether an Abkari officer invested by the Bombay Abkari Act with powers of investigation, arrest, search and detention under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, is a police officer within the meaning of Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act so that a confession made to him during such investigation is inadmissible.

Analysis: The expression "police officer" in Section 25 was construed in a broad and non-technical sense, having regard to the protective purpose of the provision against confessions obtained by undue influence during custodial investigation. The Bombay Abkari Act conferred upon Abkari officers substantial powers ordinarily exercised by police officers in the investigation of cognizable offences, including the powers of investigation under Section 41 of the Bombay Abkari Act, 1878 and allied powers of arrest, search and detention. The distinction drawn in earlier cases involving officers with more limited powers was held inapplicable where the officer in question exercised materially the same powers as an officer in charge of a police station.

Conclusion: An Abkari officer exercising the investigative powers conferred by the Bombay Abkari Act is a police officer within Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, and a confession made to such an officer in the course of investigation is inadmissible.

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