Section 77 BSA 2023: Proof of Other Official Documents
Section 77 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 specifies how certain public and official documents may be proved before a court. It covers Government acts, orders and notifications, legislative proceedings, official gazettes, municipal or local body proceedings, and specified foreign public documents.
What Section 77 of the BSA provides
Section 77 deals with the method of proving particular categories of public documents. The provision should be read with Section 74 on public and private documents, Section 75 on certified copies of public documents, and Section 76 on proof by production of certified copies.
Section 77 - Proof of other official documents
77. The following public documents may be proved as follows:-
(a) Acts, orders or notifications of the Central Government in any of its Ministries and Departments or of any State Government or any Department of any State Government or Union territory Administration-
(i) by the records of the Departments, certified by the head of those Departments respectively; or
(ii) by any document purporting to be printed by order of any such Government;
(b) the proceedings of Parliament or a State Legislature, by the journals of those bodies respectively, or by published Acts or abstracts, or by copies purporting to be printed by order of the Government concerned;
(c) proclamations, orders or Regulations issued by the President of India or the Governor of a State or the Administrator or Lieutenant Governor of a Union territory, by copies or extracts contained in the Official Gazette;
(d) the Acts of the Executive or the proceedings of the Legislature of a foreign country, by journals published by their authority, or commonly received in that country as such, or by a copy certified under the seal of the country or sovereign, or by a recognition thereof in any Central Act;
(e) the proceedings of a municipal or local body in a State, by a copy of such proceedings, certified by the legal keeper thereof, or by a printed book purporting to be published by the authority of such body;
(f) public documents of any other class in a foreign country, by the original or by a copy certified by the legal keeper thereof, with a certificate under the seal of a Notary Public, or of an Indian Consul or diplomatic agent, that the copy is duly certified by the officer having the legal custody of the original, and upon proof of the character of the document according to the law of the foreign country.
Meaning and practical effect of Section 77
The section prescribes recognized methods by which the authenticity of specified official records can be established without requiring every original Government or legislative record to be produced personally by the officer who created it.
- Government acts, orders and notifications: These may be proved through departmental records certified by the head of the department, or through a document purporting to be printed by Government order.
- Parliament and State Legislature proceedings: Journals, published Acts or abstracts, and Government-printed copies may be used.
- Presidential, gubernatorial and Union territory instruments: Copies or extracts appearing in the Official Gazette are recognized modes of proof.
- Municipal and local body proceedings: A certified copy from the legal keeper or an officially published book may prove the proceedings.
- Foreign public documents: The section lays down additional certification requirements, including certification through a Notary Public, Indian Consul or diplomatic agent where applicable.
Related BSA provisions
For a complete understanding of public documentary evidence, Section 77 should be read together with the surrounding provisions governing public documents, certified copies and presumptions relating to certified and official records.