Sections 61, 62 and 63 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872: Proof of Documents, Primary Evidence and Secondary Evidence
Sections 61, 62 and 63 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 formed the basic statutory framework for proving the contents of documents. Section 61 stated the permissible modes of proof, Section 62 defined primary evidence, and Section 63 defined the forms of secondary evidence.
Meaning and relationship of Sections 61, 62 and 63
The three provisions should be read together. Section 61 provides that documentary contents may be proved by primary or secondary evidence. Section 62 explains what constitutes primary evidence. Section 63 identifies the categories that constitute secondary evidence. Whether secondary evidence may actually be given in a particular case is governed principally by the conditions contained in Sections 64 and 65 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
Section 61 - Proof of contents of documents
Statutory rule: The contents of documents may be proved either by primary or by secondary evidence.
Explanation: Section 61 establishes the two recognized evidentiary routes for proving what a document contains. It does not, by itself, make every form of secondary evidence admissible in every case. The party relying on secondary evidence must also satisfy the applicable statutory conditions.
Section 62 - Primary evidence
Definition: Primary evidence means the document itself produced for the inspection of the Court.
Explanation 1 - Documents executed in parts or counterparts
Where a document is executed in several parts, each part is primary evidence of the document. Where a document is executed in counterpart, each counterpart executed by one or some of the parties is primary evidence as against the parties executing it.
Explanation 2 - Documents made by one uniform process
Where a number of documents are all made by one uniform process, as in printing, lithography or photography, each is primary evidence of the contents of the others. Where all of them are merely copies of a common original, however, they are not primary evidence of the contents of that original.
Illustration
If a person possesses several placards printed at one time from one original, any one placard is primary evidence of the contents of another placard produced by the same printing process, but it is not primary evidence of the contents of the original from which they were printed.
Section 63 - Secondary evidence
Definition: Secondary evidence means and includes the following forms of evidence:
- Certified copies given under the provisions contained in the Act.
- Copies made from the original by mechanical processes which in themselves ensure the accuracy of the copy, and copies compared with such copies.
- Copies made from or compared with the original.
- Counterparts of documents as against the parties who did not execute them.
- Oral accounts of the contents of a document given by a person who has himself seen it.
Illustrations to Section 63
(a) A photograph of an original is secondary evidence of its contents even if the two have not been compared, provided it is proved that the thing photographed was the original.
(b) A copy compared with a copy of a letter made by a copying machine is secondary evidence of the contents of the letter if it is shown that the machine copy was made from the original.
(c) A copy transcribed from another copy, but afterwards compared with the original, is secondary evidence. A copy not so compared is not secondary evidence of the original merely because the intermediate copy had been compared with the original.
(d) An oral account of a copy compared with the original, or an oral account of a photograph or machine copy of the original, is not secondary evidence of the original.
Primary evidence and secondary evidence: practical distinction
Primary evidence ordinarily consists of producing the document itself before the Court. Secondary evidence is substitute evidence of the document's contents falling within one of the categories recognized by Section 63. The classification of material as secondary evidence is distinct from the further question whether the law permits that secondary evidence to be led in the circumstances of the case.
Related provisions
For the next stage of documentary proof, see Sections 64 and 65 - proof by primary evidence and cases in which secondary evidence may be given. For electronic records under the pre-BSA law, see Sections 65A and 65B - electronic evidence.
This page explains the statutory position under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 before commencement of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023. The applicable law may depend on the date and nature of the proceeding.