Section 93 Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023: Presumption as to electronic records five years old

Section 93 of Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023: Presumption as to electronic records five years old

Official Bare Act Text

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

Where any electronic record, purporting or proved to be five years old, is produced from any custody which the Court in the particular case considers proper, the Court may presume that the electronic signature which purports to be the electronic signature of any particular person was so affixed by him or any person authorised by him in this behalf.

Explanation. — —The Explanation to section 81 shall also apply to this section.

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

Court Sec 2(1)(a) Document Sec 2(1)(b) Evidence Sec 2(1)(c) Fact Sec 2(1)(d) Proved Sec 2(1)(f)

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 93

Section 93 introduces a modernized statutory presumption for electronic records five years old, providing that where an electronic record is five years old and produced from proper custody, the Court may presume that the electronic signature was affixed by that person.

Five-Year Digital Age Standard: Calculated from the date of creation or recording of the electronic record.
Proper Digital Custody: Applies to records archived in corporate servers, cloud repositories, or municipal databases in the natural course of business.
Presumption as to Electronic Signature: The court may presume that the electronic signature and other particulars were affixed by the person who purports to have executed it.

Key Landmark Precedents:

Arjun Panditrao Khotkar v. Kailash Kushanrao Gorantyal (2020) 7 SCC 1: Recognized that electronic evidence preservation and digital archives require special legal presumptions as technology evolves.
Shafhi Mohammad v. State of H.P. (2018) 2 SCC 801: Emphasized that electronic evidence stored over time in regular commercial archives must be handled with practical realism.

Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In banking and commercial disputes involving loans or communications from five or more years ago, produce archived digital records from the bank's core banking repository with proper custody logs to invoke the Section 93 presumption.