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Section 78 BSA 2023: Presumption as to Genuineness of Certified Copies

Section 78 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA) creates a statutory presumption in favour of the genuineness of certain certificates, certified copies and other documents that the law declares admissible as evidence of a particular fact.

Current law: The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 is Act No. 47 of 2023 and came into force on 1 July 2024. Section 78 falls in the provisions dealing with presumptions as to documents.

Provision	Section 78, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023
Subject	Presumption as to genuineness of certified copies
Nature of presumption	The Court shall presume genuineness where the statutory conditions are satisfied.
Effective date of BSA	1 July 2024

Text of Section 78 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

78. Presumption as to genuineness of certified copies.—(1) The Court shall presume to be genuine every document purporting to be a certificate, certified copy or other document, which is by law declared to be admissible as evidence of any particular fact and which purports to be duly certified by any officer of the Central Government or of a State Government:

Provided that such document is substantially in the form and purports to be executed in the manner directed by law in that behalf.

(2) The Court shall also presume that any officer by whom any such document purports to be signed or certified, held, when he signed it, the official character which he claims in such paper.

Meaning and Scope of Section 78 BSA

The expression “shall presume” indicates that, once the conditions of the provision are met, the Court is required to draw the statutory presumption unless it is displaced in accordance with law. The section is aimed at avoiding unnecessary formal proof of specified official certificates, certified copies and similar documents that are already made admissible by law.

Conditions for the Presumption

For Section 78 to apply, the document should purport to be a certificate, certified copy or other document that the law declares admissible as evidence of a particular fact. It should also purport to have been duly certified by an officer of the Central Government or a State Government and should substantially follow the form and manner prescribed by the relevant law.

Presumption About the Certifying Officer

Sub-section (2) adds a further presumption regarding the official status of the person who signed or certified the document. The Court shall presume that the officer held, at the time of signing, the official character claimed in the document.

Practical effect: Section 78 primarily concerns the genuineness and official certification of qualifying documents. It does not by itself make every statement in every certified document conclusive; the evidentiary effect of the contents still depends on the applicable law and the purpose for which the document is tendered.

Relationship with Nearby BSA Provisions

Section 78 should be read with the surrounding provisions on public documents and certified copies. Section 74 deals with public and private documents, Section 75 concerns certified copies of public documents, Section 76 deals with proof by production of certified copies, and Section 77 addresses proof of other official documents.

Corresponding Provision Under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872

Section 78 BSA broadly corresponds to Section 79 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, which also dealt with the presumption as to genuineness of certified copies. The numbering has changed under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.

Official Sources

For the authoritative statutory text and commencement details, refer to the official Government of India sources linked in the sidebar. Where there is any conflict between a secondary summary and the official text, the enacted law and official notifications should be followed.