BSA Section 78: Presumptions as to documents Presumption as to genuineness of certified copies (formerly IEA 79)
Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 · in force from 1 July 2024
BSA 78: Presumptions as to documents Presumption as to genuineness of certified copies
From 1 July 2024
(1) The Court shall presume to be genuine every document purporting to be a certificate, certified copy or other document, which is by law declared to be admissible as evidence of any particular fact and which purports to be duly certified by any officer of the Central Government or of a State Government:
Provided that such document is substantially in the form and purports to be executed in the manner directed by law in that behalf.
(2) The Court shall also presume that any officer by whom any such document purports to be signed or certified, held, when he signed it, the official character which he claims in such paper.
What it replaced in the Evidence Act
BSA 78 ← IEA 79 · Presumption as to genuineness of certified copiesChanged
BPR&D's comparison records a change. Read what changed before relying on the old wording.
What changed, per BPR&D: The words "or by any officer [in the State of Jammu and Kashmir] who is duly authorised thereto by the Central Government:" are excluded and paragraph are numbered as subsections.
Printed in both official correspondence tables (BPR&D and NCRB).
The Court shall presume [to be genuine] every document purporting to be a certificate, certified copy or other document, which is by Law declared to be admissible as evidence of any particular fact and which purports to be duly certified by any officer [of the Central Government or of a State Government, or by any officer [in the State of Jammu and Kashmir] who is duly authorized thereto by the Central Government]:
Provided that such document is substantially in the form and purports to be executed in the manner directed by law in that behalf.
The Court shall also presume that any officer by whom any such document purports to be signed or certified, held, when he signed it, the official character which he claims in such paper.
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 79
They remain the law on IEA 79. 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 17.
- 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.