BHARATIYA SAKSHYA ADHINIYAM, 2023

(LAW OF EVIDENCE)
COURSE PLAN

S.NO TOPICS LECTURE

. SESSIONS
1 Introduction to Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023. 01-08
2 Relevancy, Admissibility and Types of Evidence. 09-15
3 Admissions, Confessions & Dying Declarations. 15-24
4 Opinion Evidence and Relevancy of Character. 25-35
5 Oral & Documentary Evidence 36-40
6 Burden of Proof and Estoppel. 41-50
7 Witnesses and Examination. 51-60
 MOD 1
 What evidence is.
Introduction 

Substantive v. Procedural laws.
Historical Development of Law of
to Bharatiya 
Evidence in India. (1872-2023)
Objectives and Importance of Bharatiya
Sakshya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.
 Definitions and Scope of Bharatiya
Adhiniyam, Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.

2023.  Electronic and digital records

document.
 Electronic oral evidence.
 New Key Provisions in Bharatiya
Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023
What evidence is.
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 What evidence is.

The “Law of Evidence” may be

defined as a system of rules for • 1. In the ancient period, there has been elaborate
ascertaining controverted discussion of the rules of evidence in Sanskrit
books. However, not much information is available
questions of fact in judicial in the Muslim period in respect of the Law of
inquiries. This system of Evidence.
ascertaining the facts, which are Backgrou • 2. In 1726, the rules of evidence prevailing in
England under Common law and statute law were
the essential elements of a right
or liability and is the primary and
nd of the introduced in India.
• 3. During 1835-1855 at least 11 enactments in this

perhaps the most difficult Indian area of law were dealt with. In 1868, a draft
prepared by Sir Henry Sommer Maine which was
found unsuitable for the country.
function of the Court, is
regulated by a set of rules and
Evidence • 4. Sir James Stephen in 1872 prepared the Bill for
the Act as in present day, who was entrusted with
principles known as “Law of Act the same work in 1871.
• 5. Most States had already adopted this Act before
Evidence” even the Constitution came into force.
• 6. Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam came into force
on July 1, 2024.
Relevance and Function of the Law of Evidence:

1. In the process of delivering justice, Courts not only have to go into the facts of the case but also
ascertain the truthfulness of such assertions made by the parties. To ascertain these facts, the Law
of Evidence plays an important role, being the procedural law in this aspect
2. It is this procedural law that provides in itself how fats are to be proved and when the same will
be regarded as relevant by the Court in the administration of justice.
3. It helps judges in deciding the rights and liabilities of the parties arising out of the facts
presented to him for further application of the relevant laws.
4. Thus, the law of evidence lays down the principles and rules according to which the facts of a
case may be proved or disproved in the Court of Law.
5. It helps the Courts in preventing the wastage of time upon irrelevant issues.
6. In the case of Ram Jas v. Surendra Nath, it was held that, the law of evidence does not affect the
substantive rights of the parties but facilitates the course of justice. It lays down rules of guidance
for the Courts. It is procedural in nature, proving how a fact can be proved
Lex Fori: this phrase means the place of the action.
It was held by the House of Lords, “the law of
evidence is lex fori which governs the courts;
whether a witness is competent or not, whether a
certain evidence proves a fact or not, is to be
determined by the law where the cause of action
arises, where the remedy is enforced and where
the court sits to enforce it.” Thus, when evidence is
taken in one country for a suit or action in another
country, the law applicable to the recording of
evidence would be the law prevailing in the
country where the proceeding is going on.
Types of Evidence.
• There are different types of Evidence that can be
proved before the Court. Let’s understand the
types of Evidence as follows:
• 1. Oral Evidence
• 2. Documentary Evidence
• 3. Primary Evidence
• 4. Secondary Evidence
• 5. Real Evidence
• 6. Hearsay Evidence
• 7. Direct Evidence
• 8. Indirect Evidence or Circumstantial Evidence

•
Oral Evidence
• Oral Evidence means all statements which the court permits or requires to be
made before it by witnesses, in relation to the matter of fact under inquiry.
• Section 54 of the BSA reads as ‘all facts, apart from the contents of a document
or electronic records shall be considered as oral evidence’.
• Even if a witness cannot communicate orally whatever they say in writing or any
other format to the court will still fall under the category of oral evidence.
• The oral evidence of a witness cannot be dismissed on the grounds of the non-
production of medical evidence. For example, if the witness/victim is a person
whose throat has been slit and she can point out to the accused, then her
statement would still fall under the category of oral evidence.
• Section 125 of BSA states that witness who is unable to speak may give his
evidence in any other manner in which he can make it intelligible, as by writing or
by signs; but such writing must be written and the signs made in open Court,
evidence so given shall be deemed to be oral evidence. Section 125 is an
extension of Oral Evidence.
Documentary Evidence
• Afzauddin Ansari Vs. State of Bengal, 1997 it was held that ‘A man may
lie but a document will never lie’.
• Vox Audita Perit, Littera Scripta Manet is an Ancient Roman Proverb which
means “the Spoken word vanishes, the written word remains”. The law of
evidence recognizes the superior credibility of documentary evidence as
against oral evidence.
• Indian Evidence Act provides that documentary evidence means all
documents including electronic records produced for the inspection of the
Court; such documents are called documentary evidence.
• Documents are divided into two categories, Public Documents, and
Private Documents. The production of Documents in Court is regulated by
the Civil Procedure Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. The contents
of documents must be proved either by the production of a document
which is called Primary Evidence or Secondary Evidence.
 Secondary Evidence(Section 58 of the
Primary Evidence (Section 57 of the BSA )
BSA )
• Primary evidence means the documents • These are those evidence which is
itself produced for the inspection of the entertained by the court in the absence of
Court. the primary evidence. Therefore it is known
• Primary evidence is considered to be the as secondary evidence.
superior class of evidence. Such evidence is • Section 59 of the Indian Evidence Act state
an original document that needs to be that Document must be proved by primary
submitted before the court for inspection. It evidence except in the cases hereinafter
is admissible without any prior notice. mentioned i.e. in Section 60.
• Secondary evidence can be presented only • Secondary evidence can be presented only
in the absence of primary evidence by in the absence of primary evidence by
explaining the reason for the absence of explaining the reason for the absence of
such evidence. such evidence.
• Primary evidence, more commonly known • In the matter of Malay Kumar Ganguly Vs.
as best evidence, is the best available Sukumar Mukherjee, 2010 it was held that
substantiation of the existence of an object the document which is otherwise
because it is the actual item. It differs from inadmissible cannot be taken in evidence
secondary evidence, which is a copy of, or only because no objection to the
substitute for, the original. admissibility thereof was taken.
 Section 58 provides
for Secondary
Evidence means and
includes:

• Copies made from

• Counterparts of • Oral accounts of the
original by a • Copies made from
documents against contents of the
• Certified copies mechanical process or compared with the
the party who did not document by a person
and copies compared original
execute them who has seen it.
with such copies

Section 60 of the BSA state that Secondary evidence may be given of

the existence, condition, or contents of a document in the following
cases:

b. When the existence,

e. When the original is a f. When the original is a g. When the originals
a. When the Original condition or contents of d. When the original is
c. When the original has public document within document of which a consist of numerous
Document is in the original have been of such a nature as not
been destroyed or lost. the meaning of section certified copy is accounts or other
possession of : proved to be admitted to be easily movable.
74. permissible. documents.
in writing.

III. Any person who is

I. A person against II. Any person out of the
legally bound to
whom it is to be proved, reach of, or not subject
produce it, does not
or to the process of the
produce it even due
court, or
notice has been given.
• Real Evidence
• Real evidence, often called physical evidence, consists of material
items involved in a case, objects and things the Court can
physically hold and inspect.
• Examples of real evidence include fingerprints, blood samples,
DNA, a knife, a gun, and other physical objects.
• Real evidence is usually admitted because it tends to prove or
disprove an issue of fact in a trial.
• Real evidence is usually involved in an event central to the case,
such as a murder weapon, clothing of a victim, narcotics or
fingerprints.
• In order to be used at trial, real evidence must be relevant,
material, and authentic.
 • Hearsay Evidence
• Hearsay Evidence means the statement of witness not based
on his personal knowledge but on what he heard from others
• It is not direct evidence. Evidence that is not direct is what he
heard from a third party who is not himself called as a witness.
• The evidence of such a witness is inadmissible to prove the
truth of the fact stated.
The reasons why hearsay evidence is not received as relevant evidence are:
• (a) The person giving such evidence does not feel any responsibility. The law
requires all evidence to be given under personal responsibility, i.e., every witness
must give his testimony, under such circumstances, as expose him to all the
penalties of falsehood. If the person giving hearsay evidence is cornered, he has a
line of escape by saying “I do not know, but so and so told me”,
• (b) Truth is diluted and diminished with each repetition and
• (c) If permitted, gives ample scope for playing fraud by saying “someone told me
that………..”. It would be attaching importance to false rumor flying from one foul
lip to another.
• Thus the statement of witnesses based on information received from others is
Exceptions to hearsay
• Res gestae under Section 6 of Indian Evidence Act: The statement of
a person may be proved through another person who appears as a
witness if the statement is a part of the transaction issues.
• Statement in Public Document under Section 74 of Indian Evidence
Act: The Statement in Public Document such as the Acts of the
Parliament, official books, and registers can be proved by the
production of document and it is not necessary to produce before
the court the draftsman of the documents.
• Admission and Confession (under Section 17 – Section 23 and
section 24 – Section 30)
• Dying Declaration: Section 32 (1) When it relates to cause of death.
Direct Evidence

• Direct evidence is evidence that will prove the point in fact

without interpretation of circumstances.
• It is any evidence that can show the court that something
occurred without the need for the judge to make inferences or
assumptions to reach a conclusion.
• An eyewitness who saw the accused shoot a victim would be able
to provide direct evidence.
• Similarly, a security camera showing the accused committing a
crime or a statement of confession from the accused admitting to
the crime could also be considered direct evidence.
Circumstantial Evidence or Indirect Evidence

Circumstantial evidence is an Evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact. such as a fingerprint at the
scene of a crime.

Peter Murphy defines Circumstantial Evidence as “Evidence from which the desired conclusion may be drawn. Evidence requires the
court not only to accept the evidence presented but also to draw an inference from it.

Circumstantial Evidence is especially important in civil and criminal cases where direct evidence is lacking.

Ummed Bhai Vs. State of Gujarat, it was held that in the absence of direct evidence a person can be convicted on the basis of
circumstantial evidence alone.

In the matter of Nalini Singh Vs. State of Tamilnadu, it was held that the well-known rule governing circumstantial evidence is that
each and every incriminating circumstance must be clearly established by reliable evidence. “The circumstance proved
must form a chain of event” from which the only irresistible conclusion about the guilt of the accused can be safely
drawn and no other hypothesis is possible.
 Guidelines for admissibility of the
Circumstantial Evidence (Bodh Raj Vs.
State of Jammu and Kashmir)

• The Circumstance • There should be a

from where the • Circumstances ought complete sequence of
conclusion of guild is to • The facts, therefore, to be conclusive in proof so as to not leave
be drawn ought to be established ought to be nature and tendency. any affordable ground
established. The as per the hypothesis of for the conclusion in line
circumstances involved the guild of the with the innocence of
“must” or “should” and accused. the defendant and
not “maybe” should show that the
established. offense must have been
committed by the
defendant.
ADMISSION
In general, Admission is a voluntary acknowledgment of a fact.

Importance is given to that admission that goes against the interests of the person making the
admission.

For example, when A says to B that he stole money from C, A makes an admission of the fact that A
stole money from C. This fact is detrimental to the interests of A. The concept behind this is that
nobody would accept or acknowledge a fact that goes against their interest unless it is
indeed true. Unless A indeed stole money from C, it is not normal for A to say that he stole money
from C.

Therefore, an admission becomes an important piece of evidence against a person. On the other
hand, anybody can make assertions in favor of themselves. They can be true or false. For example, A
can keep on saying that a certain house belongs to himself, but that does not mean it is necessarily
true. Therefore, such assertions do not have much evidentiary value.

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Definition

According to Section 15
• “An admission is a statement
Section 15 of the Indian (oral or documentary or
Evidence Act, 1872 defines contained in electronic form)
which suggests any inference as
admission. to any fact in issue or relevant
fact, and which is made by any
of the person and under the
circumstances hereinafter
mentioned.

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Essential Ingredients
• There must be a statement, oral or
stat documentary or contained in electronic
eme form
nt

sug • The statement must suggest any inference

gest
any as to any fact in issue or relevant fact;
infer
enc
e
• The statement must have been made by
any of the persons and in the circumstances
By? mentioned in BSA
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 An admission is a statement

• An admission is a statement of fact.

• It may be oral, documentary, electronic form or
even by conduct.
• Active or passive conduct may, in circumstances,
become evidence of an admission.

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• When a statement is made to a person in his presence and
hearing affecting his position seriously; and the person does
not deny it, he is thereby taken to have admitted the truth of
the statement.
• Even a mere silence may amount to an admission if, under
the circumstances, it is natural to expect a denial or reply
from a person.
• Just as a denial is not always a negation of liability, failure to
deny it may not necessarily amount to an admission of
liability either.

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Example
• Illustration (g) to Section 6 furnishes a good example of
admission by conduct.

• The question is, whether ‘A’ owes ‘B’ Rs. 10,000.

• The facts that ‘A’ asked ‘C’ to lend him money and that ‘D’
said to ‘C’ in A’s presence and hearing — “I advise you not
to trust ‘A’, for he owes ‘B’ 10,000 rupees.” And that ‘A’
went away without making any answer, are relevant facts.

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 Inference as to any fact in issue
or relevant fact
• All admissions are
essentially statements but
STATEMEN
all statements are not T
admissions.
• A statement is, therefore, a
genus and an admission is a ADMISSION
species of that genus.
• Only such of the statement
are admissions as suggest
any inference as to any fact 28
• An admission may sometimes amount to direct acknowledge of
liability.
• However, the law does not require that every admission must
directly and invariably acknowledge a liability. Requirement of
the law would be satisfied, if the statement made by maker
suggests any inference as to his liability.

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EXAMPLE

• Following illustrations may be helpful in appreciating

the point:—
• (a)‘A’ sues ‘B’ for the recovery of an alleged loan given by him to ‘B’. An
entry as to the fact of loan is found recorded in B’s account book.

• The fact of entry of loan in B’s account book is an admission on the part of
‘B’.

• (b)‘A’ makes a statement to the effect that “he does owe the money.” That
will also be an admission being a direct acknowledgement of liability.

• (c)‘A’ is charged with causing death of ‘B’ by poisoning him. ‘A’ admits to
have purchased poison.

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• An inference is thereby suggested that he is guilty of the
murder, unless he proves that he needed the poison for
some innocent purpose. The inference suggested by the
statement must, however, be a clear one. Since an
admission, at best, only suggests some inference, it is the
duty of the Court to examine the statement inside out and
see whether the statement is unequivocal and
comprehensive.

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 CASE LAWS
• In Parmeshwari Bai vs. M. Scindia, AIR (1981) Kar 47 it was held that
stray statements elicited in cross-examination cannot be taken to be an
admission.

• In Brij Mohan vs. Amar Nath, AIR (1980) J&K 54 it was held that the mere
admission by a person that he put his thumb impression or signature upon a
piece of paper without knowing its nature and contents is not admission by
him that he executed the documents.

• In M.M. Chetti vs. C. Coomarswary, AIR (1980) Mad 212 it was held that
the mere admission by a person that he put his thumb impression or
signature upon a piece of paper without knowing its nature and contents is
not admission by him that he executed the documents. The Court further
held that statement must go the whole hog, as it were, on the point at issue.
If a party’s admission falls short of the totality of the requisite evidence
needed for legal proof of a fact in issue, such an admission would be only32 a
truncated admission.
Relevancy of Admissions
• An admission must be
• clear,
• precise,
• unequivocal,
• categorical,
• not vague or ambiguous.

An admission is the best evidence that an opposite party can rely upon,
though not conclusive, it is nevertheless decisive on the point unless
proved erroneous or is validly allowed to be withdrawn.

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