THE BHARATIYA SAKSHYA BILL, 2023

STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS

The Evidence Act 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 fact of the case and then pronounce judgment thereupon and it came into force on 1st September, 1872.

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

3. The proposed legislation, namely “Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam”, inter alia, provides as under,—
(i) it provides that ‘evidence’ includes any information given electronically, which would permit appearance of witnesses, accused, experts and victims through electronic means;
(ii) it provides for admissibility of an electronic or digital record as evidence and it shall have the same legal effect, validity and enforceability as paper records;
(iii) it seeks to expand the scope of secondary evidence to include copies made from original by mechanical processes, copies made from or compared with the original, counterparts of documents as against the parties who did not execute them and oral accounts of the contents of a document given by some person who has himself seen it and giving matching hash # value of original record will be admissible as proof of evidence in the form of secondary evidence;
(iv) it seeks to puts 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.

4. The Notes on Clauses explains the various provisions of the Bill.

5. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objectives.