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Evidence Act · Chapter II · Of the relevancy of facts

Evidence Act section 52 in the BSA

Evidence Act 52BSA 46

Evidence Act section 52, “In civil cases character to prove conduct imputed, irrelevant”, is now BSA section 46 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From Evidence Act 52 to BSA 46

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.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Evidence Act, 1872

Section 52 In civil cases character to prove conduct imputed, irrelevant

In civil cases, the fact that the character of any person concerned is such as to render probable or improbable any conduct imputed to him, is irrelevant, except in so far as such character appears from facts otherwise relevant.

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

Section 46 In civil cases character to prove conduct imputed, irrelevant

In civil cases the fact that the character of any person concerned is such as to render probable or improbable any conduct imputed to him, is irrelevant, except in so far as such character appears from facts otherwise relevant.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed.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The BSA repealed the Indian Evidence Act from 1 July 2024 (section 170(1)).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)).

Sources

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