Abstract

India is the land where people mostly believe in what they have seen and heard instead of a written document or fact, same happens in our courts. An eye witness is given more importance than an evidence discovered. The evidence to have some weight and substance has to be corroborated by a witness. The story or the facts of the witness shall prove the importance of the evidence. But being witness in India is not voluntary that is to say there is fear amongst people, people do not want to become a witness and this is because the witness protection in India is not up to the mark. The protection of a witness is not given much importance until recently when the witness protection scheme 2018 came into picture. This paper follows doctrinal method of re-searching the paper is all about the witnesses their rights and protection. The paper mentions about who is a witness, who can be a witness, competency and compellability of a witness and the credibility of a witness. How and what are the laws that apply to a witness and the protection of a witness under the witness protection scheme 2018. The newly made witness protection scheme is also compared with different countries witness protection programs. The research paper also concludes and gives suggestion as to how our witness protection system can be improved and what more we need to make the witness protection program secure so as the people voluntarily become witness in future without any fear.

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