India, Nov. 7 -- The Bombay High Court has ruled that those accused in child molestation cases cannot be convicted based solely upon the survivor's statement recorded before a judicial magistrate, under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The single judge bench of justice SM Modak said that even if the magistrate before whom a statement was recorded was examined, he would have only narrated what the survivor had told him about the incident.

"It can be used for corroboration of the primary evidence. Such statements before a judicial magistrate cannot take place of substantial evidence," justice Modak said while upholding the acquittal of a police constable accused of molesting a 17-year-old girl in the absence of her testimony.

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