Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 - Chapter II - Relevancy of Facts

Section 10 BSA 2023: Facts Relevant for Determining the Amount of Damages

Act No. 47 of 2023 In force from 1 July 2024

Section 10 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 makes facts relevant when they help a Court determine the amount of damages that ought to be awarded in a suit. The provision concerns the quantification of damages: once damages are claimed, facts that assist the Court in measuring the proper amount may be proved as relevant facts.

Text of Section 10, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

Section 10 - Facts tending to enable Court to determine amount are relevant in suits for damages.

In suits in which damages are claimed, any fact which will enable the Court to determine the amount of damages which ought to be awarded, is relevant.

What Section 10 Means

Section 10 is an evidentiary rule. It does not by itself create a right to damages or prescribe a particular measure of damages. Instead, where a suit includes a claim for damages, it allows evidence of facts that can assist the Court in fixing the amount that should be awarded under the applicable substantive law.

When it appliesIt applies in suits where damages are claimed and the Court must assess the amount, if any, that ought to be awarded.

What becomes relevantAny fact that has a rational bearing on the amount of damages may be relevant, subject to the other rules governing admissibility and proof.

What it does not decideThe section does not itself establish liability. Liability and entitlement to damages must arise under the law governing the cause of action.

PurposeThe provision enables the Court to receive evidence needed for a fair and evidence-based assessment of compensation or damages.

Examples of Facts That May Help Determine Damages

Depending on the nature of the suit and the applicable substantive law, facts relevant to the amount of damages may include:

the value of property before and after the loss or damage;
reasonable repair, replacement, restoration or medical expenses;
actual loss of earnings, business income or other proved financial loss;
the duration and extent of injury, disability, inconvenience or loss of use where legally compensable;
market value, invoices, accounts, expert valuation and other material bearing on quantification;
steps taken to reduce or mitigate loss, where mitigation is relevant under the applicable law.

These are general illustrations of the kind of facts that may assist quantification. Whether a particular item is recoverable, and how it must be proved, depends on the cause of action and the governing substantive and procedural law.

Meaning of "Court" under the BSA

Section 2(1)(a) of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam defines "Court" to include all Judges and Magistrates and all persons, except arbitrators, who are legally authorised to take evidence. This definition should be read with Section 1(2), which states the proceedings to which the Adhiniyam applies.

Section 10 BSA and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872

Section 10 BSA substantially carries forward the rule that earlier appeared in Section 12 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, which dealt with facts relevant to determining the amount of damages. The numbering changed when the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam replaced the Indian Evidence Act.

Transitional rule: The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam came into force on 1 July 2024. Under Section 170(2), an application, trial, inquiry, investigation, proceeding or appeal that was already pending immediately before commencement continues to be dealt with under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 as if the new Adhiniyam had not come into force.

Practical Effect of Section 10

In a damages suit, the parties should identify and prove material that connects directly with the amount claimed. The Court may consider evidence that assists in measuring the loss, while excluding material that is too remote, speculative, legally irrecoverable or otherwise inadmissible. Section 10 therefore works with the substantive law of damages and the wider rules of pleading, proof, burden of proof and admissibility.

Related BSA Provisions

Section 10 appears in Chapter II on relevancy of facts and should be read in context with the nearby provisions on facts in issue and relevant facts:

This page is intended as a general legal reference. The admissibility and measure of damages in a particular case depend on the facts, pleadings and applicable substantive law.