Sections 22, 22A and 23 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872: Oral Admissions and Admissions in Civil Cases

Sections 22, 22A and 23 form part of the law relating to admissions under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. They deal respectively with oral admissions about the contents of documents, oral admissions about electronic records, and admissions made in civil cases under an agreement or circumstances indicating that they are not to be given in evidence.

Applicable-law note: This article explains the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 as it stood immediately before the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024. The 1872 Act continues to govern an application, trial, inquiry, investigation, proceeding or appeal that was pending immediately before commencement of the 2023 Act, by virtue of the repeal-and-savings provision in Section 170 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.

Section 22 - When oral admissions as to contents of documents are relevant

Meaning: Section 22 limits the use of oral statements to prove what a document contains. Ordinarily, the document itself is the proper evidence of its contents. An oral admission about those contents becomes relevant only in the situations recognized by the section.

Statutory rule: Oral admissions as to the contents of a document are not relevant unless the party proposing to prove them first shows entitlement to give secondary evidence of the document's contents under the applicable rules, or unless the genuineness of a document produced is in question.

Practical effect of Section 22

A party cannot normally replace documentary proof merely by asserting that another person orally admitted what the document said. The provision works with the rules governing documentary and secondary evidence. Where secondary evidence is legally permissible, an oral admission concerning the document may become relevant. The other express situation is a dispute about the genuineness of the document produced.

Section 22A - When oral admissions as to contents of electronic records are relevant

Meaning: Section 22A specifically addresses oral admissions concerning the contents of an electronic record. It was introduced to deal with electronic evidence separately from ordinary documentary admissions.

Statutory rule: Oral admissions as to the contents of electronic records are not relevant unless the genuineness of the electronic record produced is in question.

Practical effect of Section 22A

The section prevents the contents of an electronic record from ordinarily being proved merely through an oral admission. Its express exception applies where the genuineness of the electronic record that has been produced is itself in question. The admissibility and proof of electronic records must also be considered with the other provisions of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 applicable to electronic evidence.

Section 23 - Admissions in civil cases when relevant

Meaning: Section 23 protects certain admissions made in civil disputes where the parties have expressly agreed, or the circumstances allow the court to infer an agreement, that the admission will not be given in evidence. The rule supports settlement discussions made on that basis.

Statutory rule: In civil cases, an admission is not relevant if it is made upon an express condition that evidence of it is not to be given, or in circumstances from which the court can infer that the parties agreed that evidence of it should not be given.

Explanation to Section 23

The section does not exempt a barrister, pleader, attorney or vakil from giving evidence of a matter which that legal professional may be compelled to disclose under Section 126 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Section 126 concerns professional communications and specifies the circumstances in which a legal adviser may or may not disclose communications and related material.

How Sections 22, 22A and 23 operate

Although all three provisions appear in the chapter dealing with relevancy of facts and admissions, they address different evidentiary situations. Section 22 concerns oral admissions about the contents of documents. Section 22A applies specifically to oral admissions about electronic records. Section 23 concerns the relevance of admissions in civil cases where confidentiality as to evidentiary use has been agreed expressly or can be inferred from the circumstances.

These provisions should therefore be read with the wider scheme of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, including the definition and general rules relating to admissions, documentary evidence, secondary evidence, electronic records and professional communications, depending on the issue before the court.