Law of Evidence Notes | B.B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Semester 7 | SPPU | munotes

Contents

Module 01 Introduction to Law of Evidence

1. The Law of Evidence Is Now the Sakshya Adhiniyam 1
2. What the Law of Evidence Does 7
3. Where the Adhiniyam Applies 12
4. Court, Fact and Facts in Issue 18
5. Document and Evidence 24
6. Kinds of Evidence 28
7. Proved, Disproved and Not Proved 33
8. May Presume, Shall Presume and Conclusive Proof 37

Module 02 Relevance and Admissibility

1. Relevancy and Admissibility 41
2. Res Gestae 47
3. Occasion, Cause, Effect and Opportunity 53
4. Motive and Preparation 57
5. Conduct 62
6. Facts That Explain, Introduce or Identify 69
7. Things Said or Done by a Conspirator 75
8. Facts Not Otherwise Relevant, and Alibi 82
9. Damages, Rights and Customs 87
10. State of Mind and Body 91
11. Accident, Intention and Course of Business 97
12. What an Admission Is 102
13. Who Can Make an Admission 107
14. Proving an Admission 112
15. Admissions Are Not Conclusive 118
16. What a Confession Is 122
17. Confessions Caused by Inducement, Threat, Coercion or Promise 127
18. Confession to a Police Officer 133
19. Information Leading to a Discovery 139
20. Confession of a Co-Accused 145
21. Judicial, Extra-Judicial and Retracted Confessions 150

Module 03 Statements by Persons

1. Statements by Persons Who Cannot Be Called 156
2. Dying Declarations 161
3. Recording and Weighing a Dying Declaration 167
4. Statements in the Course of Business or Against Interest 173
5. Statements on Public Rights, Relationship and Family Matters 178
6. Evidence Given in an Earlier Proceeding 183
7. Books of Account and Public Records 187
8. Maps, Acts, Law Books and the Whole Statement 192
9. Judgments That Bar a Second Suit or Trial 197
10. Judgments in Rem 201
11. Other Judgments, and Fraud or Incompetence 206
12. Expert Opinion 212
13. The Examiner of Electronic Evidence 217
14. Opinion on Handwriting and Signature 221
15. Opinions on Custom, Usage and Relationship 227
16. Who Is an Expert Witness 232
17. Admissibility and Weight of Expert Opinion 237
18. Forensic Evidence Under the Adhiniyam 241
19. Forensic Evidence in Criminal Cases 246
20. Fingerprints and Other Impressions 251
21. DNA Evidence 256
22. Firearms and Ballistics 262
23. Scientific Tests and the Right Against Self-Incrimination 267
24. Medical and Eyewitness Evidence in Conflict 272
25. Character in Civil Cases 276
26. Character in Criminal Cases 280
27. Character and Sexual History in Sexual Offence Cases 286

Module 04 Documentary Evidence

1. Primary Evidence 294
2. Proof of Signature and Handwriting 299
3. Secondary Evidence 304
4. When Secondary Evidence May Be Given 310
5. Electronic and Digital Records 317
6. The Certificate Under Section 63 322
7. How the Courts Read the Certificate Rule 330
8. Recordings, CCTV and Messages as Evidence 335
9. Electronic and Digital Signatures 340
10. The IT Act Definitions: Computers, Data and Records 344
11. The IT Act Definitions: Signatures, Certificates and Intermediaries 350
12. Proof of Attested Documents 357
13. Public and Private Documents 364
14. Certified Copies and Official Documents 368
15. Presumptions as to Documents 373
16. Presumptions as to Electronic Records 379
17. Documents Not Produced and Thirty-Year-Old Documents 384
18. When the Terms Are in Writing 388
19. No Oral Agreement Against the Writing 393
20. Ambiguity in Documents 399
21. Strangers to the Document and Wills 404

Module 05 Witnesses

1. Who May Testify 408
2. Child Witnesses 412
3. Witnesses Unable to Communicate Verbally 416
4. Husband and Wife as Witnesses 421
5. Judges and Magistrates as Witnesses 425
6. Affairs of State and Official Communications 428
7. Informers and Professional Communications 433
8. Documents a Witness Need Not Produce, and Incriminating Answers 438
9. Accomplice Evidence 442
10. Number of Witnesses 447

Module 06 Burden of Proof

1. Burden of Proof 450
2. Burden of Proof in a Criminal Trial 455
3. Facts Especially Within Knowledge 460
4. Alive or Dead: Thirty Years and Seven Years 465
5. Relationship, Ownership and Active Confidence 469
6. Presumption as to Certain Offences 473
7. Birth During Marriage and Legitimacy 477
8. How Presumptions Work 483
9. Abetment of Suicide by a Married Woman 488
10. Dowry Death 492
11. The Court May Presume 497
12. Absence of Consent in Rape Prosecutions 503
13. Facts Judicially Noticed 506
14. Facts Admitted 512

Module 07 Oral Evidence

1. Oral Evidence and the Hearsay Rule 517
2. Order of Witnesses, and the Judge's Ruling on Admissibility 523
3. Examination-in-Chief, Cross-Examination and Re-Examination 527
4. Leading Questions 531
5. Matters in Writing and Previous Statements 535
6. Questions Lawful in Cross-Examination 542
7. Indecent, Scandalous and Insulting Questions 548
8. Hostile Witnesses 553
9. Impeaching the Credit of a Witness 558
10. Corroboration 563
11. Production of Documents in Court 569
12. The Judge's Power to Put Questions 574
13. Refreshing Memory 581

Module 08 Estoppel

1. Estoppel 586
2. Kinds and Limits of Estoppel 590
3. Estoppel of Tenants, Licensees, Acceptors and Bailees 595
4. Improper Admission and Rejection of Evidence 599