Sections 19 and 20 of Indian Evidence Act 1872: Admissions by Other Persons

Sections 19 and 20 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 formed part of the law governing admissions before the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 came into force. They identify two situations in which a statement made by a person other than the principal party may amount to an admission relevant against a party to a suit.

Applicable-law note: This article explains the legal position under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 immediately before the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024. The page is retained for matters in which the earlier Evidence Act remains relevant under the applicable transitional legal framework.

Meaning of admission under the Evidence Act

Section 17 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 defined an admission as a statement, oral or documentary or contained in electronic form, which suggests an inference as to a fact in issue or relevant fact and which is made by a person, and in circumstances, specified in the provisions dealing with admissions. Sections 19 and 20 specified two such classes of persons and circumstances.

Section 19 - Admissions by persons whose position must be proved against a party

Section 19: Statements made by persons whose position or liability it is necessary to prove against a party to the suit are admissions when the statutory conditions are satisfied. The statement must be one that would have been relevant against the maker in relation to that position or liability in a suit by or against the maker, and it must have been made while the maker occupied that position or was subject to that liability.

Essential conditions of Section 19

Illustration to Section 19

A undertakes to collect rents for B. B sues A for failing to collect rent due from C. A denies that rent was due from C to B. A statement by C that rent was owed to B is an admission relevant against A where the liability of C to B is a fact that must be established against A.

The provision therefore deals with a derivative form of admission. The maker need not be a party to the suit, but the maker's legal position or liability must itself be a matter that has to be proved against the party against whom the statement is tendered.

Section 20 - Admissions by persons expressly referred to by a party to the suit

Section 20: Statements made by persons to whom a party to the suit has expressly referred for information concerning a matter in dispute are admissions.

What Section 20 requires

The section applies where a party expressly identifies another person as a source of information on a disputed matter. A statement subsequently made by that referred person concerning that matter may then operate as an admission against the referring party. The express reference is important because it is the party's reference to that person for information that supplies the statutory basis for treating the person's statement as an admission.

Illustration to Section 20

The issue is whether a horse sold by A to B is sound. A tells B to ask C because C knows about the horse. C's statement concerning the horse's soundness is an admission under Section 20.

Difference between Sections 19 and 20

Section 19 focuses on the position or liability of the maker that must be established against a party. Section 20 instead focuses on an express reference by a party to another person for information about a matter in dispute. Both provisions extend the law of admissions beyond statements made personally by the party to the proceeding, but they do so on different statutory grounds.

Relationship with Sections 17, 18 and 21

Sections 19 and 20 should be read as part of the wider statutory scheme of admissions. Section 17 supplied the general definition of admission; Section 18 dealt principally with admissions by parties, their authorised agents and certain persons connected with the subject matter; Sections 19 and 20 dealt with the special situations explained above; and Section 21 prescribed the general rule governing proof of admissions by or against the persons making them.

Practical significance

When relying on a statement under Section 19, the party tendering it should be able to identify the precise position or liability of the maker that has to be proved and show that the statutory timing and relevance conditions are met. Under Section 20, the evidence should establish an express reference by the party to the third person for information on the matter in dispute. A mere statement by an unrelated third person does not become an admission simply because it concerns the dispute.

This article explains the statutory position under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 before commencement of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023. It is general legal information and should be applied with reference to the facts, procedural stage and law governing the particular proceeding.