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CHAPTER IX.––OF WITNESSES

Section 122: Communications during marriage

The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (repealed)

Repealed by the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (47 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024.

No person who is or has been married, shall be compelled to disclose any communication made to him during marriage by any person to whom he is or has been married; nor shall he be permitted to disclose any such communication, unless the person who made it, or his representative in interest, consents, except in suits between married persons, or proceedings in which one married person is prosecuted for any crime committed against the other.

Now in the BSA

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

122. Communications during marriage.BSA 128

Questions on this section

3 questions in 14 of our papers cite Section 122. Try these from the free papers:

  1. 1. During their marriage, H tells his wife W that he has killed Z. H and W are later divorced. At H's trial for the murder of Z, the prosecution calls W to disclose what H told her. H does not consent. Under Section 128 of the BSA, W:

  2. 2. Consider the following statements regarding communications during marriage under Section 128 of the BSA: 1. The protection does not apply in proceedings in which one married person is prosecuted for any crime committed against the other. 2. A communication made during marriage may be disclosed if the person who made it, or his representative in interest, consents. 3. The protection extends to communications made by one spouse to the other before their marriage. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Practise questions on Criminal Law