Under the Criminal Procedure Code, there are three ways in which a witness might depose during a trial — by being physically present before the court, via video conferencing or by “appointing commission”. The last option is allowed only if a witness is unable to appear at all due to unavoidable reasons. In such cases, the court appoints an independent lawyer or “commission” who goes to the witness along with the public prosecutor, defense advocate and accused, and records his or her deposition.

Incidentally, a video conferencing link between Mumbai and New York was used to record evidence in an unprecedented case on November 22, 2003. A New York-based doctor — Dr Ernest Greenberg of Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital — whose evidence was vital to a medical negligence case filed against a well known cancer specialist associated with Bombay Hospital, deposed via satellite link-up and his evidence was digitally recorded at a VSNL studio in Mumbai.

In this case, while the trial court had allowed video-conferencing of the US-based doctor, the Bombay High Court had disallowed it.

The matter then went to the Supreme Court, which struck down the High Court order.