Evidence Act · Chapter X · Of the examination of witnesses

Evidence Act section 141 in the BSA

Evidence Act 141BSA 146(1)

Evidence Act section 141, “Leading questions”, is now BSA section 146(1) of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From Evidence Act 141 to BSA 146

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. It now sits in BSA 146 with Evidence Act 142, 143.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Evidence Act, 1872

Section 141 Leading questions

Any question suggesting the answer which the person putting it wishes or expects to receive, is called a leading question.

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

Section 146 Leading questions

The part that carries Evidence Act 141 is marked.

(1) Any question suggesting the answer which the person putting it wishes or expects to receive, is called a leading question.

(2) Leading questions must not, if objected to by the adverse party, be asked in an examination-in-chief, or in a re-examination, except with the permission of the Court.

(3) The Court shall permit leading questions as to matters which are introductory or undisputed, or which have, in its opinion, been already sufficiently proved.

(4) Leading questions may be asked in cross-examination.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed.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

Also in BSA 146

Other Evidence Act sections that went to the same place

Evidence Act 142 When they must not be asked → BSA 146(2), 146(3)
Evidence Act 143 When they may be asked → BSA 146(4)

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The BSA repealed the Indian Evidence Act from 1 July 2024 (section 170(1)).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