The Statements of Objects and Reasons of The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (Act 47 of 2023) [25th December, 2023]

An act to consolidate and to provide for general rules and principles of evidence for fair trial. It received the assent of the President on December 25, 2023, and was published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 25th December 2023, pp. 1-47, No. 55

Be it enacted by Parliament in the Seventy-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows: -
Statement of Objects And Reasons.- The Indian Evidence Act, of 1872 was enacted in the year 1872 with a view to consolidate the law relating to evidence on which the Court could come to the conclusion about the facts of the case and then pronounce judgment thereupon and it came into force on 1st September, 1872.

     ∘ The experience of seven decades of Indian democracy calls for a comprehensive review of our criminal laws including the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and adopt them in accordance with the contemporary needs and aspirations of the people. The law of evidence (not being substantive or procedural law), falls in the category of "adjective law", which defines the pleading and methodology by which the substantive or procedural laws are operationalized. The existing law does not address the technological advancement undergone in the country during the last few decades.

     ∘ Accordingly, a Bill, namely, the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023 was introduced in Lok Sabha on 11th August 2023. The Bill was referred to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs for its consideration and report. The Committee after deliberations made its recommendations in its report submitted on 10th November 2023. The recommendations made by the Committee have been considered by the Government and it has been decided to withdraw the Bill pending in Lok Sabha and introduce a new Bill incorporating therein those recommendations made by the Committee that have been accepted by the Government.

     ∘ The proposed legislation, inter alia, provides as under: -

1.  It provides that "evidence" includes any information given electrically, which would permit the appearance of witnesses, accused, experts, and victims through electronic means;
2.  It provides for the admissibility of an electronic or digital record as evidence having the same legal effect, validity, and enforceability as any other documents;
3.  It seeks to expand the scope of secondary evidence to include copies made from the original by mechanical processes, copies made from or compared with the original, and counterparts of documents as against the parties who did not execute them and oral accounts of the contents of documents given by some person who has himself seen it and giving the matching hash value of original record will be admissible as proof of evidence in the form of secondary evidence;
4.  It seeks to put limits on the facts which are admissible and its certification as such in the Courts. The proposed Bill introduces more precise and uniform rules of practice of courts in dealing with facts and circumstances of the case by means of evidence.

     ∘ The Notes on Clauses explain the various provisions of the Bill.

     ∘ The bill seeks to achieve the above objectives.