BSA Section 74: Public documents Public and private documents (formerly IEA 74 and IEA 75)
Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 · in force from 1 July 2024
BSA 74: Public documents Public and private documents
From 1 July 2024
(1) The following documents are public documents:—
(a) documents forming the acts, or records of the acts—
(i) of the sovereign authority;
(ii) of official bodies and tribunals; and
(iii) of public officers, legislative, judicial and executive of India or of a foreign country;
(b) public records kept in any State or Union territory of private documents.
(2) All other documents except the documents referred to in sub-section (1) are private.
What it replaced in the Evidence Act
BSA 74(1) ← IEA 74 · Public documentsChanged
BPR&D's comparison records a change. Read what changed before relying on the old wording.
What changed, per BPR&D: The words " and private" are added in the heading. The words "any part of" and "or of the commonwealth" are excluded.
Printed in both official correspondence tables (BPR&D and NCRB).
The following documents are public documents: ––
(1) documents forming the acts or records of the acts ––
(i) of the sovereign authority,
(ii) of official bodies and tribunals, and
(iii) of public officers, legislative, judicial and executive, [of any part of India or of the Commonwealth], or of a foreign country;
(2) public records kept [in any State] of private documents.
BSA 74(2) ← IEA 75 · Private documentsChanged
BPR&D's comparison records a change. Read what changed before relying on the old wording.
What changed, per BPR&D: The words "or Union territory" and "except the documents referred to in sub-section (1)" are added.
Printed in both official correspondence tables (BPR&D and NCRB).
All other documents are private.
Which one applies
Under section 170(2) of the BSA, an application, trial, inquiry, investigation, proceeding or appeal already pending on 1 July 2024 is dealt with under the Evidence Act; one begun on or after that date, under the BSA.
Read BSA section 170 →Judgments decided under IEA 74
They remain the law on IEA 74. Where the provision changed in the move, read what changed before relying on one for an offence after 1 July 2024.
Sources
- Correspondence Table and Comparison Summary of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 to the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, Bureau of Police Research & Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, page 7.
- Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023: bare Act with Corresponding Section Table, National Crime Records Bureau (Sankalan), page 16.
- The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (Act 1 of 1872), as amended, India Code, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice.
BPR&D is the Bureau of Police Research & Development (Ministry of Home Affairs); NCRB the National Crime Records Bureau. Their correspondence tables are training aids, not law. This page is general information, not legal advice on any case; the bare Acts as published by the Government of India are the authority.