New Delhi: The Supreme Court yesterday (Jan 22, 2007)ruled out the possibility of giving protection to allwitnesses in criminal cases but asked the Centre to conduct a sample survey ata Delhi court to ascertain the types of cases in which such facility could beextended.

"How can there be a blanket protection?" a Bench comprising ChiefJustice K G Balakrishnan and Justice D K Jain said disagreeing with the viewthat there is a need for protection to all witnesses.

"Do you (petitoner) have an idea how many witnesses would be required tobe protected"? the Bench observed referring to the large number ofcriminal cases across the country.

The Bench was expressing its view after senior lawyer Vivek Tankha, appearingfor an NGO, Country First, which has filed the petition for enacting alegislation on witness protection, said the country cannot be allowed to sufferthe menace of hostile witnesses.

When he said that if the witness has a duty to speak truth the state also hasduty to protect them, Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanian respondedby saying that "even the best of the protected witness do not wink beforeturning hostile".

While the counsel for the NGO was trying to impress on the court that thereshould be an effort to evolve a system of witness protection, the Bench saidthe extent of cases pending in courts throughout the country has to be firstconsidered.

The Bench said the media can say and write whatever they think but it shouldalso know in what types of cases the witnesses were required to be protected.