THE INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT,1872

This blog is written by Shivani Sehrawat, a second year law student at Faculty of Law, University of Delhi

INTRODUCTION

The Indian Evidence Act of 1872 is an essential piece of substantive and procedural law for the administration of justice in the country and for ensuring the applicability of other laws. The law of evidence governs the rules and methods which direct  the relevancy, admissibility and credibility of evidence and the standard of proof required in judicial proceedings for arriving at a decision. The Act holds a significant amount of value in the judicial system as it seeks to contemplate the balance between the different objectives of protecting the rights of individuals while safeguarding the interest of the community and preventing the abuse of process of court while maintaining the fairness of trial.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

The Indian Evidence Act, of 1872 was introduced by the Law Minister Sir James Fitzjames Stephen on March 31, 1871, in the Imperial Legislative Council of British India. The bill was passed by the Council and simultaneously assented by the Governor-General on March 15, 1872. Thereafter, it came into force on September 1, 1872.

OBJECT & NEED OF THE ACT

The Act was enacted to consolidate, define and amend the law of evidence for providing assistance to Courts for establishing the truth in judicial matters across the territory of India. Though a couple of Acts were in force before the 1872 enactment such as the Acts of 1835 and 1855, which were the reproduction of English Laws, however, due to their limited territorial application, unsuitability to Indian situations and inadequacy of crucial legal provisions, there arose a need of a more comprehensive code which was opposite both to the circumstances of the country and its people in uniformity.

EXTENT OF APPLICATION OF THE ACT

• APPLICATION 

The Act is applicable to all the judicial proceedings in or before any Court in the territory of India.

• NON-APPLICATION 

The Act is neither applicable to proceedings before an Arbitrator nor to affidavits presented in any Court or before an Officer.

Further, it is inapplicable to Court-martials convened under the Army Act, the Naval Discipline Act and the Air Force Act.

STRUCTURE OF THE ACT

The Act is primarily divided into three Parts comprising 11 Chapters and 167 Sections.

PART/CHAPTER	NAME	SECTIONS
PART – I	RELEVANCY OF FACTS	1 to 55
Chapter – 1	Preliminary	1 to 4
Chapter – 2	Of the Relevancy of Facts	5 to 55
PART – II	ON PROOF	56 to 100
Chapter – 3	Facts which need not be proved	56 to 58
Chapter – 4	Of Oral Evidence	59 to 60
Chapter – 5	Of Documentary Evidence	61 to 90A
Chapter – 6	Of the Exclusion of Oral by Documentary Evidence	91 to 100
PART – III	PRODUCTION AND EFFECT OF EVIDENCE	101 to 167
Chapter – 7	Of the Burden of Proof	101 to 114A
Chapter – 8	Estoppel	115 to 117
Chapter – 9	Of Witnesses	118 to 134
Chapter – 10	Of the Examination of Witnesses	135 to 166
Chapter – 11	Of Improper Admission and Rejection of Evidence	167

PROVISIONS & SALIENT FEATURES OF THE ACT

S. No.	PROVISIONS	BRIEF OF PROVISIONS
1.	Section 3 -Interpretation	In this Act, several terms are defined with specific meanings. “Court” encompasses judges, magistrates, and authorized individuals for evidence-taking, excluding arbitrators. “Fact” includes anything perceivable by senses or mental conditions. “Relevant” pertains to the connection between two facts as outlined in Act provisions. “Facts in issue” refer to any fact relevant to rights, liabilities, or disabilities in legal proceedings. A “document” denotes any matter expressed or described on a substance. “Evidence” covers statements made by witnesses (oral evidence) or documents (documentary evidence). A “proved” fact is believed to exist, while a “disproved” fact is deemed not to exist. “Not proved” indicates a fact that is neither proved nor disproved. Lastly, “India” excludes Jammu and Kashmir. Additional terms have meanings assigned under the Information Technology Act, 2000.
2.	Section 5 – Evidence may be given of facts in issue and relevant facts	Evidence in any legal proceeding can be presented to prove or disprove facts that are in issue or are declared relevant. However, this does not permit the proof of facts that are disallowed under current Civil Procedure laws.
3	Section 6 – Relevancy of facts forming part of same transaction	According to this section, Relevant facts connected to a fact in issue, forming part of the same transaction, are admissible regardless of whether they occurred simultaneously or at different times and places.
4.	Section 7 – Facts which are the occasion, cause or effect of facts in issue	Facts that are the cause, effect, occasion, or state of things leading to relevant facts or facts in issue, or which provide an opportunity for their occurrence, are considered relevant.
5.	Section 8 – Motive, preparation and previous or subsequent conduct	Any fact showing a motive or preparation for a fact in issue or relevant fact is considered relevant. The conduct of parties or agents in a suit or proceeding, especially concerning facts in issue, is relevant if it influences or is influenced by those facts, whether occurring before or after.
6.	Section 9 – Facts necessary to explain or introduce relevant facts.	Facts that explain or introduce a fact in issue, support or challenge an inference from a relevant fact, establish identity, determine time or place of occurrence, or show the relationship between parties involved are relevant to the extent necessary for their purpose.
7.	Section 17 – Admission Defined	An admission is a statement, whether oral, documentary, or electronic, that implies an inference about a fact in issue or relevant fact, made by certain individuals under specific circumstances.
8.	Section 22 – When oral admissions as to contents of documents are relevant	Oral admissions regarding the contents of a document are not relevant unless the party seeking to prove them can demonstrate entitlement to provide secondary evidence of the document’s contents or unless the genuineness of the document itself is in dispute.
9.	Section 24 – Confession caused by inducement, threat or promise, when irrelevant in criminal proceeding.	An accused person’s confession is irrelevant in a criminal proceeding if it’s caused by inducement, threat, or promise from a person in authority, leading the accused to believe it would benefit them or avoid harm in the proceedings.
10.	Section 32 – Cases in which statement of relevant fact by person who is dead or cannot be found, etc., is relevant.	Statements made by a deceased person or a person who cannot testify, or whose attendance is unreasonably difficult, are relevant in various cases: (1) statements about the cause of their death, regardless of their expectation of death or the type of proceeding; (2) statements made in the ordinary course of business, including entries in business records or acknowledgements of transactions; (3) statements against the speaker’s financial or legal interest, or that would expose them to prosecution or damages; (4) statements of opinion on public rights or customs before a dispute arose; (5) statements about relationships by someone with special knowledge, before a dispute over the relationship arose; (6) statements in family-related documents like wills or family pedigrees made before a dispute arose; (7) statements in documents related to certain transactions; (8) statements by multiple people expressing relevant feelings or impressions.
11.	Section 45 – Opinion of experts	Opinions of persons skilled in foreign law, science, art, or in identifying handwriting or finger impressions, are relevant when the Court needs to decide on these matters. These skilled persons, called experts, provide opinions that assist the Court in forming its judgment. For example, expert opinions can be relevant in determining if symptoms indicate unsoundness of mind and its effects on behavior, or in identifying whether two documents were written by the same person.
12.	Section 60 – Oral evidence must direct	Oral evidence must be direct and from witnesses who personally perceived the facts they testify about through their senses. For opinions and the grounds on which they are held, the evidence must come from the person holding the opinion. Expert opinions from treatises can be proved by producing the treatise if the author is unavailable. The Court may also require the production of material things for inspection if they are referred to in oral evidence.
13.	Section 62 – Primary Evidence	Primary evidence is the document itself presented to the Court for inspection. When a document is executed in several parts or counterparts, each part or counterpart serves as primary evidence. Documents made by the same process like printing or photography are primary evidence of their contents, but copies of a common original are not primary evidence of the original’s contents.
14.	Section 63 – Secondary Evidence	Secondary evidence encompasses certified copies provided under the specified provisions, copies produced by mechanical processes ensuring accuracy, copies compared with those originals, and counterparts of documents against parties who did not execute them. Additionally, it includes oral accounts of document contents from individuals who have personally seen them.
15.	Section 65B – Admissibility of electronic records	This Act specifies that electronic records printed, stored, recorded, or copied in optical or magnetic media (computer output) are deemed as documents if certain conditions are met. These conditions include regular use of the computer for storing or processing information related to regular activities, consistent input of information during this period, proper operation of the computer, and reproduction of information from fed data. If these conditions are satisfied, computer output is admissible in proceedings as evidence without needing the original. Additionally, when multiple computers are used over   a   period   for   storing   or   processing information, they are treated as a single computer for this purpose. A certificate signed by a responsible official can confirm the manner of producing the electronic record and related matters. Information supplied to a computer in any form is considered supplied to it, and a computer output is deemed produced by a computer regardless of the means used.
16.	Section 91 – Evidence of terms of contracts, grants and other dispositions of property reduced to form of document.	This section states that terms of contracts, grants, or property dispositions documented in writing must be proved by the document itself or secondary evidence where permitted. Exceptions apply for written appointments of public officers and probated wills. The rule applies whether terms are in one or multiple documents, with one original sufficient for proof. Statements in other documents do not prevent oral evidence of those facts.
17.	Section 115 – Estoppel	When someone causes another person to believe something is true and act upon that belief, the first person cannot later deny the truth of that thing in a lawsuit or proceeding between them.

SIGNIFICANCE AND SCOPE OF THE ACT

The Indian Evidence Act has been a crucial and prominent enactment since its inception. It was way ahead of its time, which is evident from the very fact, that it has been  in existence for over hundred and fifty years and there have  been very few amendments to its provisions just to extend its application to the new evolving circumstances of the present era, and despite that, it has retained its predominant original from.

The Act was a progressive milestone as it set aside all the ambiguities prevalent in the application of rules of proof in the country as before 1872 either English laws were made applicable or customary rules were applied which were vague, indefinite and unsuitable for the Indian situations. Since its enactment, there has been a uniform and static pattern of procedure in judicial proceedings across the spectrum, therefore, securing the rights of individuals and maintaining the equilibrium of interests.

The primary purpose of any judicial system is to administer justice and the purpose cannot be achieved unless the rules of evidence are ascertained which outlines the procedure of establishing and deciding a claim in the Court, as evidencing is the sole mechanism that helps the court in rendering its decisions with respect to rights and liabilities of individuals. Henceforth, ensuring a fair trial and systematized justice.

Similarly, the definite provisions of the Act ensure the effective implementation of its object of providing assistance to Courts in establishing the truth by limiting the extent of investigation and restricting the admittance of different kinds of evidence  in proceedings, thus leading to the public convenience.

Additionally, the Act distinctly prescribes what evidence exactly means and includes, and the procedure of their collection, production and limitations of usage in the proceedings. This approach remarks that only evidence which is related to the subject of the dispute must be admitted with a rational evidentiary value. Likewise, the method of collection also affects not only the value but the admissibility of evidence   for instance admissions made to Police are inadmissible but those that are recorded by Magistrates are admissible with a higher degree of evidentiary value due to reliability on the Judicial Officer as compare to Police which is prima facie known for its coercive tactics.

Further, the Act is neither completely a procedural law nor a substantive law. Rather, the Act is partially substantive and partially procedural in its nature as in the former, it determines the rights and obligations of the parties in respect to evidence and, in the latter, it seeks to govern the machinery of Courts and methods by which parties can enforce their rights through the legal mechanism. Thus, it is a significant procedural law to enforce the substantive provisions of not only other laws but also of its own.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The Indian Evidence Act is a milestone of its own nature as it is a prerequisite for the functioning of the entire judicial system, including the administration of justice and fair trial to each and every concerned individual through legal methods while safeguarding the interest of the community at large.

The Act is not just a fundamental piece of legislation rather also has a multi-dimensional purpose of prescribing a uniform set of rules and regulations that govern the quantity, quality, type, relevancy and admissibility of evidence and standard of proof required for the establishment of claims by parties in all sorts of judicial proceedings. It also aims at ensuring the justness and fairness of the process of court for securing a balanced trial and rendering a decision that is based on the rationale of the applicable rules and laws.

Henceforth, the Act is comprehensive in assuring the systematic procedures and adaptable rules of finding the accuracy of facts through legal methodology for implementing its purpose of providing the mechanism for discovering the truth in the larger interest of people.