Evidence Act · Chapter IX · Of witnesses
Evidence Act section 120, “Parties to civil suit, and their wives or husbands. Husband or wife of person under criminal trial”, is now BSA section 126 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.
The words are the same as in the Evidence Act, apart from “Adhiniyam” for the Act’s own name and the new numbers of the sections it refers to.
Indian Evidence Act, 1872
In all civil proceedings the parties to the suit, and the husband or wife of any party to the suit, shall be competent witnesses. In criminal proceedings against any person, the husband or wife of such person, respectively, shall be a competent witness.
Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023
(1) In all civil proceedings the parties to the suit, and the husband or wife of any party to the suit, shall be competent witnesses.
(2) In criminal proceedings against any person, the husband or wife of such person, respectively, shall be a competent witness.
The texts are India Code’s. The amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed. The PDFs linked below carry the full history.
The BSA repealed the Indian Evidence Act from 1 July 2024 (section 170(1)). Any application, trial, inquiry, investigation, proceeding or appeal pending immediately before that date is dealt with under the Evidence Act as it then stood, as if the BSA had not come into force (section 170(2)).
