INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT, 1872
BHARATIYA SAKSHYA ADHINIYAM, 2023
149. Question not to be asked without reasonable grounds.
152. Question not to be asked without reasonable grounds.
changed or removed in old law
changed or added in new law
Similar wording stays plain; only differences are highlighted.
INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT, 1872
149. Question 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.
Repealed / replaced by BSA India Code — IEA 1872
BHARATIYA SAKSHYA ADHINIYAM, 2023
152. Question 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.
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(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.
Current law India Code — BSA 2023