Police officer under Evidence Act Section 25 includes an excise officer investigating with police powers, making confessions inadmissible.

For Section 25 of the Evidence Act, "police officer" extends beyond members of the regular police force to an Excise Officer who, by statute, is vested with police powers and is investigating the offence as an officer in charge of a police station. Because the object of Section 25 is to exclude confessions made to officers engaged in criminal investigation who may exert improper influence, a confession recorded by such an Excise Officer during the investigation is inadmissible in evidence.

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Issues: Whether an Excise Officer, when investigating an excise or opium offence and exercising the powers of an officer in charge of a police station, is a Police Officer within the meaning of Section 25 of the Evidence Act, and whether a confession made to such an officer is admissible in evidence.

Analysis: The majority held that the expression "Police Officer" in Section 25 of the Evidence Act was not confined to members of the regular police force, but extended to officers who, by statute, perform the essential functions of prevention and detection of crime. Section 74 of the Bengal Excise Act, 1909, and the analogous powers under the opium law showed that an Excise Officer investigating an offence was clothed with powers and status equivalent to those of an officer in charge of a police station for the purposes of that investigation. The object of Section 25 was treated as preventing the use of confessions obtained by officers engaged in criminal investigation who may exert improper influence over accused persons. On that footing, the statutory scheme and the practical identity of functions during investigation brought the Excise Officer within the mischief of Section 25.

Conclusion: A confession made to an Excise Officer while he is conducting such an investigation is hit by Section 25 of the Evidence Act and is inadmissible; the reference was answered in the affirmative in favour of the accused.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purpose of Section 25 of the Evidence Act, "Police Officer" includes an Excise Officer who, by statute, is vested with police powers and is acting in the investigation of the offence as the officer in charge of a police station.

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