Sections 142, 143 and 144 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872: Leading Questions and Evidence as to Matters in Writing
Sections 142, 143 and 144 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 governed when leading questions could be asked and how a witness could be examined about a transaction or matter contained in a document. This article explains the provisions as they stood immediately before the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 came into force.
Meaning of a leading question
For the purpose of understanding Sections 142 and 143, a leading question is a question framed in a manner that suggests the answer which the person asking it wishes or expects to receive. Under the Evidence Act scheme, the permissibility of such a question depended principally on the stage of examination and the Court's control over the examination of witnesses.
Section 142 - When leading questions must not be asked
Statutory rule: Leading questions must not, if objected to by the adverse party, be asked in examination-in-chief or re-examination except with the permission of the Court.
The Court shall permit leading questions on matters that are introductory or undisputed, or that, in the Court's opinion, have already been sufficiently proved.
What Section 142 means
The section restricts a party from putting an answer into the mouth of its own witness during examination-in-chief or re-examination when the opposite party objects. The restriction is not absolute: the Court may permit a leading question, and the statute specifically directs permission for introductory, undisputed or sufficiently proved matters.
Key point: The objection of the adverse party activates the statutory restriction, but the Court retains authority to permit appropriate leading questions.
Section 143 - When leading questions may be asked
Statutory rule: Leading questions may be asked in cross-examination.
What Section 143 means
Unlike examination-in-chief and re-examination, cross-examination ordinarily permits leading questions. This enables the cross-examining party to test the witness's version through focused propositions and questions that may suggest the expected answer, subject to the other rules governing lawful cross-examination and the Court's control of proceedings.
Section 144 - Evidence as to matters in writing
A witness may be asked during examination whether a contract, grant or other disposition of property about which the witness is giving evidence was contained in a document. If the witness says it was, or is about to state the contents of a document which the Court considers ought to be produced, the adverse party may object to that evidence until the document is produced or facts are proved that entitle the party calling the witness to give secondary evidence of it.
Explanation: A witness may give oral evidence of statements made by other persons about the contents of documents where those statements are themselves relevant facts.
Purpose of Section 144
The provision reflects the distinction between proving a relevant fact and proving the contents of a document. Where the proposed testimony is really evidence of the contents of a document that ought to be produced, the adverse party can insist on production of the document unless the legal conditions for secondary evidence have been established.
Illustration under Section 144
The statutory illustration concerns an allegation that A assaulted B. C says that C heard A tell D that B had written a letter accusing A of theft and that A would take revenge. The statement can be proved to show A's motive for the assault even without separate proof of the letter, because the oral statement is itself a relevant fact rather than merely an attempt to prove the contents of the letter.
Practical effect of Sections 142, 143 and 144
Read together, these provisions regulated the form and evidentiary basis of witness examination. Section 142 protected examination-in-chief and re-examination from improper prompting while allowing the Court to facilitate proof of formal or undisputed matters. Section 143 expressly allowed leading questions in cross-examination. Section 144 prevented oral testimony from being used to bypass the proper proof of a document's contents, while preserving oral evidence where the statement about a document was independently relevant.
These sections should also be read with the surrounding provisions of the Indian Evidence Act dealing with leading questions, cross-examination, documentary evidence and secondary evidence.