Section 9 of Indian Evidence Act, Provides for the Identification "parade of persons" The purpose of Identification test is to test the memory and veracity of a witness, who claims to identify an accused person, who is said to have participated in a crime.

Procedure for holding identification parade: 

1)  An Executive Magistrate/ Honorary Magistrate if called upon for the purpose of holding identification parade, he should remember that he will be the full and sold charge of the entire proceedings. 


2) He should first acquaint himself with the fact of the case and found out who is to be put in the parade for identification and who are the witnesses to be called up for identification.


3) Two Independent respectable person, not connect with the police should be called. The Executive Magistrate/ Honorary Magistrate will question them and satisfy himself that they are independent and fairly intelligent persons.

4) The parade should then be arranged in a room or place which is such that the identifying witnesses, as well as the persons connected with the police, should not be able to look into it.


5) If there is only one accused person to be identified, there should be at least half a dozen persons placed in the parade. If two accused person are to be identified, then there should be about 10 or 12 persons in the parade.  The Executive Magistrate/ Honorary Magistrate should see that they are persons of more or less the same physical appearance and approximately of the same age, as the persons to be identified.


6) No person other than person in the parade, and the two respectable persons should be allowed to remain in the room where the identification proceeding are being held. All Police officers and constables should be asked to withdraw themselves completely from the room. They should not be visible from the room or place where the parade is being held.



7) After the parade is arranged, one of the two respectable person should be sent up to bring the accused from the lock-up. Case should be taken to see that when the accused is being brought from the lock-up, the identifying witnesses do not have an opportunity of seeing him. They should be kept in quite a different room, out of the sight of the lock-up.



8) The Executive Magistrate / Honorary Magistrate at this stage should commence to write memorandum.  It should include -

A) The place at which and the date on which, parade is being held and the time at which it was commenced;

B) The name, a, occupations and full addresses of the two respectable persons;

C) the names and the approximate ages of the person standing in the parade, mentioning clearly, one below the other,  in numerical order their positions in the parade (which positions they should not be allowed afterwards to alter)

D) The fact that no persons, other than those, in the parade and the two respectable persons, were allowed
to remain in the room and that all Police officers and constables were asked to withdraw; and

E) That respectable person only to fetch the accused from the lock-up, and that identifying witnesses were in a different room, so that they could not see him being brought from the lock-up to the identification room.


9) When the accused brought, the Executive Magistrate / Honorary Magistrate should ask him to take whatever place he likes in the parade. The place which he select should be noted in the memorandum.
10) The accused should then be asked if he wants to make any alterations in his dress.  He may change his cap or a coat or he may decide to put on or remove a cap or a coat. He should be allowed to do this, and that fact should be noted in the memorandum.
11) Then one of the respectable persons should be asked to bring first identifying witness from the room in which he may be sitting. When the witness arrives, the Executive Magistrate / Honorary Magistrate should questioning and ascertaining from him whether he had opportunity to see the culprit at any time subsequent to the offense or after the arrest. The witness then be asked to view the parade carefully and see whether he would be able to identify the person. The identifying witness will then go up and look closely at the parade. If he identifies any person he should be asked to go forward and touch that person, or to point him from a near distance. The fact that the identifying witness identified the accused, should be noted in the memorandum along with the name of the accused, and also note the fact if he failed to identify him or identified wrong person.


12) This procedure should be followed for each subsequent identifying witness.

13) When all identifying witnesses are exhausted one after the other the memorandum should be completed stating the time at which it was concluded. Then the memorandum should be read over an explained to the respectable person in language which they understand.

14) After memorandum is completed Executive Magistrate / Honorary Magistrate should make endorsement at the end.

15 He himself should also sign every sheet of the memorandum.

16) The memorandum should be handed over the police officer concerned.

17) The memorandum should be written in the language of the Court.


  See also...

Identification Parade

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