Evidence Act · Chapter II · Of the relevancy of facts
Evidence Act section 47A, “Opinion as to digital signature, when relevant”, is now BSA section 41(2) 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. It now sits in BSA 41 with Evidence Act 47.
Indian Evidence Act, 1872
When the Court has to form an opinion as to the electronic signature of any person, the opinion of the Certifying Authority which has issued the electronic Signature Certificate is a relevant fact.
Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023
The part that carries Evidence Act 47A is marked.
(1) When the Court has to form an opinion as to the person by whom any document was written or signed, the opinion of any person acquainted with the handwriting of the person by whom it is supposed to be written or signed that it was or was not written or signed by that person, is a relevant fact.
Explanation.—A person is said to be acquainted with the handwriting of another person when he has seen that person write, or when he has received documents purporting to be written by that person in answer to documents written by himself or under his authority and addressed to that person, or when, in the ordinary course of business, documents purporting to be written by that person have been habitually submitted to him.
Illustration.
The question is, whether a given letter is in the handwriting of A, a merchant in Itanagar. B is a merchant in Bengaluru, who has written letters addressed to A and received letters purporting to be written by him. C, is B's clerk whose duty it was to examine and file B's correspondence. D is B's broker, to whom B habitually submitted the letters purporting to be written by A for the purpose of advising him thereon. The opinions of B, C and D on the question whether the letter is in the handwriting of A are relevant, though neither B, C nor D ever saw A write.
(2) When the Court has to form an opinion as to the electronic signature of any person, the opinion of the Certifying Authority which has issued the Electronic Signature Certificate is a relevant fact.
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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed.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The BSA repealed the Indian Evidence Act from 1 July 2024 (section 170(1)).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)).
