PART III ON PROOF · CHAPTER IV OF ORAL EVIDENCE

Section 55: Oral evidence to be direct

The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

Oral evidence shall, in all cases whatever, be direct; if it refers to,—

(i) a fact which could be seen, it must be the evidence of a witness who says he saw it;

(ii) a fact which could be heard, it must be the evidence of a witness who says he heard it;

(iii) a fact which could be perceived by any other sense or in any other manner, it must be the evidence of a witness who says he perceived it by that sense or in that manner;

(iv) an opinion or to the grounds on which that opinion is held, it must be the evidence of the person who holds that opinion on those grounds:

Provided that the opinions of experts expressed in any treatise commonly offered for sale, and the grounds on which such opinions are held, may be proved by the production of such treatises if the author is dead or cannot be found, or has become incapable of giving evidence, or cannot be called as a witness without an amount of delay or expense which the Court regards as unreasonable:

Provided further that, if oral evidence refers to the existence or condition of any material thing other than a document, the Court may, if it thinks fit, require the production of such material thing for its inspection.

Corresponding Evidence Act provision

As given in the correspondence table of the National Crime Records Bureau (Ministry of Home Affairs). Read both texts before relying on it. NCRB table

55	60. Oral evidence must be direct.

Questions on this section

5 questions in 14 of our papers cite Section 55. Try these from the free papers:

1. Under Section 55 of the BSA, if oral evidence refers to an opinion or to the grounds on which that opinion is held, it must be the evidence of:
2. At a murder trial, W deposes that on the day after the incident his friend F told him that F had seen the accused stab the deceased. F is alive and available but is not examined. W's testimony, offered to prove that the accused stabbed the deceased, is:

Practise questions on Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam