Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023
Section 14 BSA 2023: Existence of Course of Business When Relevant
Section 14 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 makes an established course of business relevant when the court must decide whether a particular act was done in the ordinary way in which that business or process is normally conducted.
Section 14 - Existence of course of business when relevant
When there is a question whether a particular act was done, the existence of any course of business, according to which it naturally would have been done, is a relevant fact.
Meaning of Section 14 of the BSA
The provision deals with proof by reference to a regular and established course of business. If an act would ordinarily be performed as part of a consistent office, commercial, institutional, postal, banking, record-keeping or similar routine, evidence of that routine can be relevant to the question whether the particular act in dispute was in fact done.
In simple terms, Section 14 allows the court to consider evidence about a normal business practice when that practice makes the occurrence of a disputed act more or less probable. The course of business does not automatically prove the act; it is a relevant fact that may be weighed with the rest of the evidence.
Key idea: the focus is on an established routine or regular method of doing business and its connection with the particular act whose occurrence is in question.
Illustrations under Section 14
Illustration (a): Dispatch of a letter
If the issue is whether a particular letter was dispatched, it is relevant to show that letters placed at a specified location are, in the ordinary course of business, taken to the post, and that the letter in question was placed there.
Illustration (b): Receipt of a letter
If the issue is whether a particular letter reached a person, it is relevant that the letter was posted in due course and was not returned through the Return Letter Office.
How Section 14 operates as a rule of relevancy
Section 14 concerns relevancy, not a conclusive presumption. A party relying on a course of business should ordinarily establish the routine with reliable material and connect the disputed act to that routine. Depending on the facts, this may include office procedure, dispatch records, registers, electronic workflow logs, standard operating procedures, testimony of a person familiar with the practice, or other admissible material.
- There must be a disputed act: the court should be considering whether a particular act was done.
- A regular course of business must be shown: the practice relied on should be systematic or ordinarily followed, rather than an isolated event.
- The routine must be logically connected to the act: the normal practice should make it natural that the disputed act would have been performed in that manner.
- Weight remains fact-specific: the court assesses the strength of the business-course evidence together with the surrounding facts and any contrary evidence.
Corresponding provision under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872
Section 14 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 corresponds broadly to Section 16 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, which also dealt with the existence of a course of business when relevant. The numbering changed under the new evidence law.
| Current law | Earlier law |
|---|---|
| Section 14, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 | Section 16, Indian Evidence Act, 1872 |
| Existence of course of business when relevant | Existence of course of business when relevant |
Official legal sources
For the authoritative statutory text and commencement details, refer to the official India Code page for the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 and the Ministry of Home Affairs page on the new criminal laws.
Related BSA provisions
Section 14 appears immediately after the provisions dealing with facts showing state of mind and whether acts were accidental or intentional, and immediately before the provisions on admissions. The following internal links may be useful for reading the surrounding scheme of the Act.