Evidence Act · Chapter IX · Of witnesses

Evidence Act section 133 in the BSA

Evidence Act 133BSA 138

Evidence Act section 133, “Accomplice”, is now BSA section 138 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From Evidence Act 133 to BSA 138

Now BSA section 138, with changed wording. The IEA said a conviction is not illegal “merely because it proceeds upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice”; the BSA says a conviction is not illegal “if it proceeds upon the corroborated testimony of an accomplice”. The Gazette text reads the same.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Evidence Act, 1872

Section 133 Accomplice

An accomplice shall be a competent witness against an accused person; and a conviction is not illegal merely because it proceeds upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice.

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

Section 138 Accomplice

An accomplice shall be a competent witness against an accused person; and a conviction is not illegal if it proceeds upon the corroborated testimony of an accomplice.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed.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.

Old law or new?

Which one applies to a case

The BSA repealed the Indian Evidence Act from 1 July 2024 (section 170(1)).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)).