INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT, 1872
BHARATIYA SAKSHYA ADHINIYAM, 2023
47A. Opinion as to digital signature, when relevant.
41. Opinion as to handwriting and signature, when relevant.
changed or removed in old law
changed or added in new law
Similar wording stays plain; only differences are highlighted.
Digital-signature opinion is incorporated as BSA Section 41(2).
INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT, 1872
[47A. Opinion as to digital signature, when relevant.––When the Court has to form an opinion as
to the 2[electronic signature of any person, the opinion of the Certifying Authority which has issued the
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[electronic Signature Certificate] is a relevant fact.]
Repealed / replaced by BSA India Code — IEA 1872
BHARATIYA SAKSHYA ADHINIYAM, 2023
41. Opinion as to handwriting and signature, when relevant.—(1) When the Court has to form an
opinion as to the person by whom any document was written or signed, the opinion of any person
acquainted with the handwriting of the person by whom it is supposed to be written or signed that it was
or was not written or signed by that person, is a relevant fact.
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Explanation.—A person is said to be acquainted with the handwriting of another person when he has
seen that person write, or when he has received documents purporting to be written by that person in
answer to documents written by himself or under his authority and addressed to that person, or when, in
the ordinary course of business, documents purporting to be written by that person have been habitually
submitted to him.
Illustration.
The question is, whether a given letter is in the handwriting of A, a merchant in Itanagar. B is a
merchant in Bengaluru, who has written letters addressed to A and received letters purporting to be
written by him. C, is B's clerk whose duty it was to examine and file B's correspondence. D is B's broker,
to whom B habitually submitted the letters purporting to be written by A for the purpose of advising him
thereon. The opinions of B, C and D on the question whether the letter is in the handwriting of A are
relevant, though neither B, C nor D ever saw A write.
(2) When the Court has to form an opinion as to the electronic signature of any person, the opinion of
the Certifying Authority which has issued the Electronic Signature Certificate is a relevant fact.
Current law India Code — BSA 2023