Section 182 of the Evidence Act is as follows:182.-(1) In any proceeding for any offence the evidence of any child who is tendered as a witness and
does not, in the opinion of the court, understand the nature of an oath, may be received, though not
given upon oath, if, in the opinion of the court, such child is possessed of sufficient intelligence to justify
the reception of the evidence, and understands the duty of speaking the truth.
(2) If the court is of opinion as stated in subsection (1), the deposition of a child may be taken though
not on oath and shall be admissible in evidence in all proceedings where such deposition if made by an
adult would be admissible.
(3) A person shall not be liable to be convicted of the offence unless the testimony admitted by virtue of
this section and given on behalf of the prosecution is corroborated by some other material evidence in
support thereof implicating the accused.
(4) If any child whose evidence is received as aforesaid wilfully gives false evidence in such
circumstances that he would if the evidence had been given on oath have been guilty of perjury, he shall
be guilty of an offence against section 191 of the Criminal Code and, on conviction, shall be dealt with
accordingly."
  With respect to the argument of learned State Counsel that section 149(1) of the Evidence Act
should be applied, it is only sufficient to say that even that section requires that the act which is called in
question should have been "done in a manner substantively regular" and it will be idle to argue that a
step which was not taken or complied with at all is the same as one which was indeed taken or complied
with substantively regularly although not in entire conformity with statutory or other requirements. We
point out that the marginal note to section 182(1) of the Evidence Act states that it deals with the
unsworn evidence of a child.
The section itself provides for the reception of the evidence of a child produced as a witness in a
criminal proceeding who cannot be and is not sworn because he cannot understand the nature of an
oath. Section 182 falls within Part X of the Evidence Act and that part deals with the taking of oral
evidence. Section 179 which is the first section in that part of the Act, provides thus:" 179 . Save as otherwise provided in sections 181 and 182 all oral evidence given in any proceedings
must be given upon oath or affirmation administered in accordance with the provisions of the Oaths and
Affirmations Act."
Thus, one sees that section 182 is an exception to the peremptory provisions of section 179. So also is
section 181 which deals with other cases in which evidence not given on oath may be received. Section
181 provides as follows:-