Admission & Its Relevancy u/s 17- 23 & 31 of IEA

26 January 2022Posted inEvidence law
Admission, under Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (IEA), is a statement in oral, documentary, or electronic form by a party to the case or his authorised agent or by the other parties the statute permits. The statement must be indicative of some inference relating to the matter in dispute or a related fact. By admission the person agrees that the fact asserted by the other party is true. Admission of fact in court helps in dispensing with the production of evidence during judicial proceedings.

Conviction solely on Circumstantial Evidence

18 January 2022Posted inCriminal law, Evidence law
An accused can be convicted on the basis of circumstantial evidence alone in some cases, when the circumstantial evidence altogether inspires confidence of the court and point to the guilt of the accused alone. The judgement of the Division Bench of Kerala High Court (HC) in Babu@Kamalakshy Babu v State of Kerala is one obvious example to such a situation where an accused was convicted based on circumstantial evidence alone.

Can a Video be treated as a Document?

16 January 2022Posted inCriminal law, Evidence law
The seminal question considered by the Supreme Court (SC) in P. Gopalkrishnan @ Dileep v The State Of Kerala filed against the Kerala High Court (HC) judgement is whether the contents of the memory card/pen drive in the form of video of an incident in question, submitted to the trial court along with the police report, can be treated as document as such or material object.

Opinion or Expert Evidence: Its Relevancy

16 January 2022Posted inEvidence law
The relevancy of opinion evidence is dealt with in Sections 45 to 51 of the Indian Evidence Act (IEA). Opinion evidence in general is inadmissible. But two kinds of opinion evidence have relevance and hence admissible in judicial proceedings: one is expert opinion and the other is opinion of non-experts in some exceptional cases, as specified in the IEA.

Recall of Witness u/s 311 CrPC & 165 IEA

24 November 2021Posted inCriminal law, Evidence law
The Judge has unfettered authority to summon any material witness, or examine any person attending the court, though he is not summoned as a witness, or recall or re-examine any person already examined, if his evidence appears to be essential to the just decision of the case, under Section 311 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

Attestation unnecessary for many Instruments

30 October 2021Posted inCivil law, Evidence law
Every instrument under the law in India does not require attestation. Even if it is attested the court may not be conducting the examination of them unless the document is required to be attested as per law. However, attestation of the instrument and consequent examination of the attesting witnesses as part of proving it are essential requirements in instrument such as a Will when law prescribes so.

Proving Public Documents in Indian Courts

24 May 2021Posted inEvidence law
Public document is a category of document or record, made as part of an official act enjoined upon a public officer, while acting as an officer of the sovereign authority, official bodies and tribunals, in legislature, judicial or executive branch of government in India, the commonwealth or a foreign country, under Section 74 of the IEA.

Mens Rea & its importance in Criminal Cases

23 May 2021Posted inCriminal law, Evidence law
Mens rea refers to the guilty intention, knowledge, or state of mind of an accused in committing a crime. It has come to fore as an indispensable element of crime in tune with a Latin maxim which means, “there can be no crime without a guilty mind” (actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea). An act done by a person becomes a crime only when it is done with a guilty intention or mental state, in normal course. In other words, an act done with absolutely no guilty intention or state of mind may not become a crime.