Voluntarily - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition voluntarily

Definition :

Voluntarily, a person is said to cause an effect 'voluntarily' when he causes it by means whereby he intended to cause it, or by means which, at the time of employing those means, he knew or had reason to believe to be likely to cause it. (Indian Penal Code, 1860, s. 39)

Intentionally; without coercion, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 1569.

The crux of making statement voluntarily is, what is intentional, intended, unimpelled by other influences, acting on one's own will, through his own conscience. Such confessional statements are made mostly out of a thirst to speak the truth which at a given time predominates in the heart of the confessor which implies him to speak out the truth. Internal compulsion of the conscience to speak out the truth normally emerges when one is in despondency or in perilous situation when he wants to shed his cloak of guilt and nothing but disclosing the truth would dawn on him. It sometimes becomes so powerful that he is ready to face all consequences for clearing his heart, Gurdeep Singh v. State (Delhi Administration), (2000) 1 SCC 498: AIR 1999 SC 3646 (3653). [Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987, s. 15]

Means that the person doing an alleged thing acted of his own volition and knew the nature of his act, and did not act, in performance of a legal duty, not due to coercion, or fraud, or misrepresentation, or mistake, Abdul Salam v. Union of India, AIR 1969 All 223.