Section 8 Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023: Things said or done by conspirator in reference to common design

Section 8 of Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023: Things said or done by conspirator in reference to common design

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

Where there is reasonable ground to believe that two or more persons have conspired together to commit an offence or an actionable wrong, anything said, done or written by any one of such persons in reference to their common intention, after the time when such intention was first entertained by any one of them, is a relevant fact as against each of the persons believed to be so conspiring, as well for the purpose of proving the existence of the conspiracy as for the purpose of showing that any such person was a party to it.

Illustrations

Reasonable ground exists for believing that A has joined in a conspiracy to wage war against the State. The facts that B procured arms in Europe for the purpose of the conspiracy, C collected money in Kolkata for a like object, D persuaded persons to join the conspiracy in Mumbai, E published writings advocating the object in view at Agra, and F transmitted from Delhi to G at Singapore the money which C had collected at Kolkata, and the contents of a letter written by H giving an account of the conspiracy, are each relevant, both to prove the existence of the conspiracy, and to prove A's complicity in it, although he may have been ignorant of all of them, and although the persons by whom they were done were strangers to him, and although they may have taken place before he joined the conspiracy or after he left it.

Statutory Defined Terms in this Section: (Click any term for official legal definition)

Court Sec 2(1)(a) Document Sec 2(1)(b) Fact Sec 2(1)(d) Fact In Issue Sec 2(1)(e)

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 8

Section 8 establishes the evidentiary rule of agency in conspiracy, rendering things said, done, or written by any conspirator admissible against all co-conspirators.

Core Legal Standard: Where there is reasonable ground to believe that two or more persons have conspired together to commit an offence or an actionable wrong, anything said, done, or written by any one of such persons in reference to their common intention, after the time when such intention was first entertained by any one of them, is a relevant fact as against each of the persons believed to be so conspiring.
Operational Mechanism & Scope: The section is founded on the principle of mutual agency: every conspirator is deemed the agent of every other co-conspirator. Once a prima facie conspiracy is demonstrated, acts and statements of one operative bind the entire syndicate, whether committed in their presence or absence.

Section 8 operationalizes the rule of mutual agency in criminal conspiracies, rendering the acts and declarations of one conspirator admissible against all co-conspirators.

Key Landmark Precedents:

State of Tamil Nadu v. Nalini (1999) 5 SCC 253: In the Rajiv Gandhi assassination appeal, the Supreme Court held that Section 10 IEA / Section 8 BSA operates as an extraordinary rule of evidence, requiring prima facie proof of conspiracy before statements of co-conspirators can be received against each other.
Mirza Akbar v. King-Emperor (1940) LR 67 IA 336: Privy Council held that things said or done must be 'in reference to the common intention'; statements made after the conspiracy has culminated or been frustrated (such as confessions to police) are outside the section.
State (NCT of Delhi) v. Navjot Sandhu (2005) 11 SCC 600: Affirmed that post-arrest confessions of a conspirator cannot be used under Section 10 against co-conspirators because the common intention had ceased.

Legal Commentary:

Section 8 is the prosecution's premier evidentiary weapon in terrorism, narcotics, and corporate fraud syndicates. Because conspiracies are hatched in subterranean secrecy, the law allows acts of distant operatives to prove the guilt of central masterminds, provided the acts occurred while the common enterprise was active.