(i) A writing is a document. (ii) Words printed, lithographed or photographed are documents. (iii) A map or plan is a document. (iv) An inscription on a metal plate or stone is a document.
(v) A caricature is a document. (vi) An electronic record on emails, server logs, documents on computers, laptop or smartphone, messages, websites, locational evidence and voice mail messages stored on digital devices are documents;
(e) "evidence" means and includes—
(i) all statements including statements given electronically which the Court permits or requires to be made before it by witnesses in relation to matters of fact under inquiry and such statements are called oral evidence; (ii) all documents including electronic or digital records produced for the inspection of the Court and such documents are called documentary evidence;
(f) "fact" means and includes—
(i) any thing, state of things, or relation of things, capable of being perceived by the senses; (ii) any mental condition of which any person is conscious. Illustrations.
(i) That there are certain objects arranged in a certain order in a certain place, is a fact. (ii) That a person heard or saw something, is a fact. (iii) That a person said certain words, is a fact. (iv) That a person holds a certain opinion, has a certain intention, acts in good faith, or fraudulently, or uses a particular word in a particular sense, or is or was at a specified time conscious of a particular sensation, is a fact;
(g) "facts in issue" means and includes any fact from which, either by itself or in connection with other facts, the existence, non-existence, nature or extent of any right, liability or disability, asserted or denied in any suit or proceeding, necessarily follows. Explanation.—Whenever, under the provisions of the law for the time being in force relating to Civil Procedure, any Court records an issue of fact, the fact to be asserted or denied in the answer to such issue is a fact in issue. Illustrations. A is accused of the murder of B. At his trial, the following facts may be in issue:—
(i) That A caused B's death. (ii) That A intended to cause B's death. (iii) That A had received grave and sudden provocation from B. (iv) That A, at the time of doing the act which caused B's death, was, by reason of unsoundness of mind, incapable of knowing its nature;
(h) "may presume".—Whenever it is provided by this Adhiniyam that the Court may presume a fact, it may either regard such fact as proved, unless and until it is disproved or may call for proof of it;
(i) "not proved".—A fact is said to be not proved when it is neither proved nor disproved;
(j) "proved".—A fact is said to be proved when, after considering the matters before it, the Court either believes it to exist, or considers its existence so probable that a prudent man ought, under the circumstances of the particular case, to act upon the supposition that it exists;
(k) "relevant".—A fact is said to be relevant to another when it is connected with the other in any of the ways referred to in the provisions of this Adhiniyam relating to the relevancy of facts;
(l) "shall presume".—Whenever it is directed by this Adhiniyam that the Court shall presume a fact, it shall regard such fact as proved, unless and until it is disproved. (2) Words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 shall have the same meanings as assigned to them in the said Act and Sanhitas: Provided that any reference in this Adhiniyam to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 or the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 shall be construed as a reference to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023 or the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, respectively.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 2
Section 2 provides the foundational statutory definitions governing the law of evidence in India, articulating core evidentiary constructs including 'Court', 'Document', 'Evidence', 'Fact', 'Proved', 'Disproved', and 'Not Proved'.
Clause (f) bifurcates 'Evidence' into oral evidence (all statements permitted or required by the court) and documentary evidence, which explicitly incorporates electronic and digital records.
Crucially, clauses (k), (l), and (m) codify the statutory standards of judicial proof: a fact is 'Proved' when the Court, considering the matter before it, either believes it to exist or considers its existence so probable that a prudent man ought to act upon that supposition; 'Disproved' when the contrary is believed or highly probable; and 'Not Proved' when it is neither proved nor disproved.
Section 2 anchors the epistemology of Indian evidence law. By bringing electronic records directly into the primary definition of 'document' and 'evidence', the BSA eliminates historical statutory ambiguity regarding digital forensic artifacts.