Evidence Act 149 vs BSA 152: Question not to be asked without reasonable grounds
Section 149 of the Indian Evidence Act is now section 152 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, in force from 1 July 2024. 90% of the old wording is kept; 17 words removed and 15 words added.
Struck out: only in the old section. Marked: new in the new section. Punctuation and capitals are ignored when matching words.
Evidence Act section 149Question not to be asked without reasonable grounds
No such question as is referred to in section 148 ought to be asked, unless the person asking it has reasonable grounds for thinking that the imputation which it conveys is well-founded. Illustrations. (a) A barrister is instructed by an attorney or vakil that an important witness is a dakait. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dakait. (b) A pleader is informed by a person in Court that an important witness is a dakait. The informant, on being questioned by the pleader, gives satisfactory reasons for his statement. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dakait. (c) A witness, of whom nothing whatever is known, is asked at random whether he is a dakait. There are here no reasonable ground for the question. (d) A witness, of whom nothing whatever is known, being questioned as to his mode of life and means of living, gives unsatisfactory answers. This may be a reasonable ground for asking him if he is a dakait.
BSA section 152Question not to be asked without reasonable grounds
No such question as is referred to in section 151 ought to be asked, unless the person asking it has reasonable grounds for thinking that the imputation which it conveys is well-founded. Illustrations. (a) An advocate is instructed by another advocate that an important witness is a dacoit. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dacoit. (b) An advocate is informed by a person in Court that an important witness is a dacoit. The informant, on being questioned by the advocate, gives satisfactory reasons for his statement. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dacoit. (c) A witness, of whom nothing whatever is known, is asked at random whether he is a dacoit. There are here no reasonable grounds for the question. (d) A witness, of whom nothing whatever is known, being questioned as to his mode of life and means of living, gives unsatisfactory answers. This may be a reasonable ground for asking him if he is a dacoit.
Text of both sections from India Code, as in our Bare Acts library. Footnotes and amendment notes are on the section pages. Find any other section with the section converter.