Evidence Act to BSA Converter (India)
Evidence Act ↔ BSA section numbers, with what changed in each provision.
Results
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What changed in the BSA
The main differences from the Evidence Act. Filter by topic:
- “Document” includes electronic and digital records
E-mails, server logs, files on computers and phones, messages, websites, location data and voice mail are documents; “evidence” includes statements given electronically.
Evidence Act: s.3, 4
- Electronic records as primary evidence
Each stored file, each automated storage (including temporary files) and each stored copy of a simultaneously transmitted video is primary evidence; a record from proper custody is primary evidence unless disputed.
Evidence Act: s.62
- Electronic records are admissible like other documents
A record cannot be refused just because it is electronic or digital; it has the same legal effect as any other document, subject to s.63.
No Evidence Act equivalent
- The s.63 certificate, with an expert’s part
The certificate goes with the electronic record every time it is offered, signed by the person in charge and by an expert, in the Schedule’s form: Part A for the party and Part B for the expert, each giving the hash value (SHA-1, SHA-256, MD5 or another standard) of the record.
Evidence Act: s.65B
- Experts in “any other field”
Expert opinion is no longer limited to foreign law, science, art, handwriting and finger impressions; the Examiner of Electronic Evidence is in s.39(2).
Evidence Act: s.45, 45A
- Coercion makes a confession irrelevant
Inducement, threat, coercion or promise from a person in authority; the old ss.28 and 29 are the provisos.
Evidence Act: s.24, 28, 29
- Police confessions and discovery in one section
Confessions to the police, or in police custody without a Magistrate, cannot be proved; information leading to a discovered fact can (the proviso, formerly s.27).
Evidence Act: s.25, 26, 27
- Trial in absentia counts as a joint trial
A trial held in the absence of an absconding accused, or one who ignored a proclamation under BNSS s.84, is a joint trial for using a co-accused’s confession.
Evidence Act: s.30
- Admissions as secondary evidence
Oral and written admissions, and a skilled person’s evidence of numerous accounts, are now listed as secondary evidence.
Evidence Act: s.63, 65
- Public and private documents in one section
Public records of private documents kept in a State or Union territory are public documents; everything else is private.
Evidence Act: s.74, 75
- Judicial notice updated
International treaties and India’s decisions at international bodies, laws with extra-territorial operation, Tribunals’ seals and the territory of India; the British references are gone.
Evidence Act: s.57
- Accomplice evidence: “corroborated” testimony
The words changed from “uncorroborated” to “corroborated” testimony; check the bare Act and case law.
Evidence Act: s.133
- Ministers’ communications with the President
No Court may require them to be produced.
Evidence Act: s.162
- The Judge’s questions
Any question the Judge “considers necessary”, and no objection by the parties or their representatives.
Evidence Act: s.165
- Pending cases stay under the Evidence Act
Applications, trials, inquiries, investigations, proceedings and appeals pending when the BSA came into force continue under the 1872 Act.
No Evidence Act equivalent
- Deleted Sections with no BSA equivalent
Oral admissions about electronic records (22A), documents admissible in England (82), telegraphic messages (88), cession of territory (113) and questions by juries or assessors (166).
Evidence Act: s.22A, 82, 88, 113, 166
For general information only, not legal advice. Templates are generic starting points — have a qualified lawyer review anything you rely on.
About the Evidence Act to BSA Converter (India)
The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA) replaced the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 for proceedings begun on or after 1 July 2024. Most sections moved two to six places — the s.65B certificate for electronic records is now s.63, the discovery rule of s.27 is the proviso to s.23, and the dying-declaration rule of s.32 is s.26 — and a few changed in substance: “document” now includes electronic and digital records, experts may speak to “any other field”, and the s.63 certificate now needs an expert’s signature and a hash value.
Type a section, a list (“65B, 27, 113B”) or paste a sentence such as “recorded u/s 27 and certified u/s 65B” to get the matching sections with titles and chapters, whether the official comparison marks them as changed or new, a plain-English note on what changed, and the provisions the BSA dropped. Everything runs in your browser.
How to use it
- Choose Evidence Act → BSA or BSA → Evidence Act.
- Type one or more section numbers — 65B, 113-A, 27, 23(2), “22 second proviso” — separated by commas, or paste text that mentions them. Or type words such as “dying declaration”, “hostile witness” or “electronic certificate” to search.
- Read each result: the corresponding section with its title and chapter, “changed”, “new” or “no equivalent” flags from the official comparison, and the note on what changed.
- Browse What changed in the BSA below the results for the main differences, filtered by topic.
- Copy the results or download them as CSV for a brief, a chart or revision notes.
Examples
Evidence Act 65B
BSA s.63 — changed: covers communication devices and semiconductor memory; the certificate goes with the record every time, signed by the person in charge and an expert, in the Schedule’s form with hash values.
Evidence Act 25, 26, 27
BSA s.23(1), s.23(2) and the proviso to s.23 — all three are now one section.
Evidence Act 113, 166
No BSA equivalent: cession of territory (113) and questions by a jury or assessors (166) are gone.
BSA 61
New — an electronic or digital record cannot be refused just because it is electronic, subject to s.63.
Common uses
- Converting the section numbers in a charge-sheet, a s.65B/s.63 certificate, a bail application or a judgment from the old Act to the new one.
- Preparing an electronic-evidence certificate under BSA s.63 and checking what the Schedule now requires.
- Building an Evidence Act–BSA chart for teaching, a moot court or judiciary exam revision.
- Checking whether an old rule — telegraphic messages, juries, documents admissible in England — still exists.
Which law applies — Evidence Act or BSA?
The BSA came into force on 1 July 2024 (notification S.O. 849(E)), together with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. Under BSA s.170, an application, trial, inquiry, investigation, proceeding or appeal pending on that day continues under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 as if the BSA had not come into force; anything begun on or after it follows the BSA. Judgments explaining an Evidence Act provision usually still help in reading the matching BSA section where the words did not change.
The s.63 certificate for electronic records
- Like s.65B, s.63 lets a computer output — a printout, or a copy on optical, magnetic or semiconductor media — be admitted without the original if the conditions in s.63(2) are met.
- It now names communication devices as well as computers, and records produced in standalone mode, on a computer system or network, on a computer resource or through an intermediary (s.63(3)).
- The certificate must be submitted along with the electronic record each time it is offered in evidence (s.63(4)).
- It is signed by the person in charge of the computer or communication device (or of the activities) and by an expert, in the form in the Schedule: Part A for the party and Part B for the expert, each identifying the device (make, model, serial number, IMEI or cloud ID) and the record’s hash value with the algorithm used (SHA-1, SHA-256, MD5 or another standard).
Evidence Act provisions with no BSA equivalent
The official comparison marks as deleted: s.22A (oral admissions about the contents of electronic records), s.82 (documents admissible in England), s.88 (telegraphic messages), s.113 (cession of territory), s.166 (questions by a jury or assessors), the definition of “India” in s.3, and clauses (3)(a)–(d) and (5)(b) of s.65B, which s.63(3) replaces. Section 2 of the Evidence Act had been repealed long before, by the Repealing Act, 1938.
Sources
- NCRB Sankalan — BSA and Evidence Act section table and its chapter-wise comparison, which mark new additions, changes and deletions
- The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (India Code) — section titles, the text the change notes summarise, s.170 and the Schedule
- The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (India Code) — the repealed text, for comparison
Limitations
- A reference aid, not legal advice: the numbers follow the official comparison, but read the bare Act before relying on any provision.
- The change notes summarise the main differences; they do not reproduce every word that changed. Where the official comparison only flags a change, the note says so.
- It covers the evidence law only; for the penal and procedure codes use the IPC to BNS and CrPC to BNSS converters.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Section 65B of the Evidence Act in the BSA?
Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (admissibility of electronic records). The certificate is now in s.63(4) and the form is in the Schedule: Part A is filled by the party and Part B by an expert, each with the hash value of the record.
What is Section 27 of the Evidence Act (discovery) in the BSA?
The proviso to s.23 of the BSA. Section 23(1) carries Evidence Act s.25 (no confession to a police officer), s.23(2) carries s.26 (no confession in police custody unless before a Magistrate), and the proviso keeps the rule that information leading to the discovery of a fact may be proved.
Where is the dying declaration (Evidence Act s.32) in the BSA?
Section 26 of the BSA — statements of relevant facts by a person who is dead or cannot be found, including statements about the cause of death.
Is the BSA section number always the Evidence Act number minus a few?
No. The gap changes through the Act — s.24 is now 22, s.65B is 63, s.113B is 118, s.133 is 138 and s.167 is 169 — and some sections were merged, split or dropped, so use the table rather than arithmetic.
Does the Evidence Act still apply to old cases?
Yes, to any application, trial, inquiry, investigation, proceeding or appeal pending when the BSA came into force on 1 July 2024 (BSA s.170(2)).
Did the BSA change the rule on accomplice evidence?
The wording changed: Evidence Act s.133 said a conviction is not illegal merely because it rests on the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice, while BSA s.138 says a conviction is not illegal if it proceeds upon the corroborated testimony of an accomplice. The official comparison marks it as changed; check the bare Act and current case law.