654 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
- A distinction must be made between two sorts of leading questions,
(i) A leading question which suggests the answer.
(ii) A leading question which directs the attention of the witness to the subject respecting which he is questioned.
As an illustration of the second sort of leading question, take the following:
A was sued for defamation by B for having said in a conversation to C that B was in bankrupt circumstances and that his name would appear in the London Gazette among bankrupts. Question was asked to the witness.
“ Was anything said about the Gazette ? ”
This is not a leading question in the sense of a question which suggests an answer. It is a leading question which directs the attention of the witness to the subject about which he is being questioned.
The manner of interrogation in Examination-in-Chief varies from the manner of investigation in Cross-examination.
In Cross-examination, a witness may be interrogated in the form of leading questions. But leading questions must not be asked in Examination-in-Chief, if objected to by the opposite party.
In Examination-in-Chief, the witness must be asked merely such question as “What did you see ?” “What did you hear ?” “What happened next ?”
Reasons for the Rule
(1) A witness has a bias in favour of the party calling him and hostile to the opponent. He is, therefore, likely to agree to the answers suggested to him by the pleader of the party.
(2) That the party calling a witness has an advantage over his adversary, in knowing before hand what the witness will prove, or at least expected to prove ; and that, consequently, if he were allowed to lead, he might interrogate him in such a manner as to extract only so much of the knowledge of the witness as