Evidence Law
Evidence law governs which facts may be proved and by what means. The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 is now the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, but the core doctrines remain.
Core
- Relevance and admissibility are different: relevant evidence may still be excluded by privilege or the confession rules.
- Res gestae: acts and statements so connected with a transaction that they explain it.
- Admissions and confessions: admissions bind a party; a confession must be voluntary. Confession to a police officer is inadmissible, but the portion leading distinctly to a discovery is admissible under the rule formerly in s.27.
- Dying declaration: a statement as to the cause of death is admissible even without oath.
- Burden of proof: the person who asserts must prove; s.106 covers facts especially within knowledge.
- Documents: primary and secondary evidence; electronic records require a certificate.
Worked example
Police recover a stolen ornament after the accused's statement. Reasoning: the confessional statement to police is inadmissible as a whole. The fact of discovery and the ornament may be proved if the statement distinctly relates to that discovery. The prosecution must still connect the recovery to the offence.
Traps
- Reading s.27 as making the entire confession admissible.
- Assuming a dying declaration needs corroboration as a rule.
- Forgetting the electronic-evidence certificate.
- Confusing burden of proof with burden of adducing evidence.