3 min readNew DelhiApr 6, 2026 04:48 AM ISTStock witnesses are witnesses who are readily available to police and investigating agencies in case after case, mostly to corroborate the police/ agency’s version of events.The Supreme Court has expanded the seven-member committee it constituted last month to examine the practice of police presenting “stock witnesses” in a large number of different cases.ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEOConstituting the committee, a Bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R Mahadevan said in an order on March 19: “…The issue of stock witnesses and the casual manner in which the witnesses are shown initially in the FIR, as also later made chargesheet witnesses has raised serious issues of concern. The…witnesses are basically included in FIR and chargesheet by way of a formality and in majority of cases, the witnesses resile from supporting the prosecution case [because]…they may actually not have been at the spot and have been shown as a witness to complete a formality and/ or under duress.”“To ensure that there is confidence” in the processes of investigation and trial, “a standard procedure has to be laid down”, the court said. The court appointed Justice Vivek Agarwal, sitting judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, to be chairman of the committee, and Additional Solicitors General K M Nataraj and S D Sanjay, senior advocates Siddharth Dave, S Nagamuthu, and Sanjay Hegde, and Inspector General of Police, State Crime Records Bureau, Bhopal, Harinarayanachari Mishra, as its members.On Thursday, the court added three more lawyers to the committee, including senior advocate Sonia Mathur. The exercise has to be completed within a month and a recommendation/ report has to be submitted.Stock witnesses are witnesses who are readily available to police and investigating agencies in case after case, mostly to corroborate the police/ agency’s version of events.“Stock witnesses become especially relevant in specific types of cases, such as NDPS cases, or trap cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act. These types of cases require corroboration of seizures, searches, etc. made by the probe agency and its version of chain of events, or the exact moment when the alleged demand and acceptance of bribe (in trap cases) are made, by independent witnesses,” senior advocate Rebecca John said.She said that the practice of relying on stock witnesses is “very well entrenched” within the criminal justice system. In January this year, the top court had noted that “repeated use of the same witnesses in support of the police versions of alleged crimes…goes to the very root of fairness and impartiality of investigation and could be termed anathema to a country governed by the rule of law…”.Story continues below this adIn the present instance, the SC took note of an application filed by Indore-based lawyer Asad Ali Warsi in a petition for bail filed by a man who was arrested under the Essential Commodities Act. The application highlighted “illegal use of stock witness of hundreds of FIRs registered” in a span of one year from November 2023 to November 2024 at a single police station in Indore.Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court Professional Profile Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express. Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare). Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others. She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020. With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles: High-Profile Case Coverage She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy. Signature Style Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system. X (Twitter): @thanda_ghosh ... 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