IEA 65B Is Now BSA 63: Admissibility of Electronic Records

Aspect	IEA 1872 (repealed)	BSA 2023 (in force)
Section	65B	63
Heading	Admissibility of electronic records	Same
Sub-sections	5 sub-sections	Same

IEA 65B and BSA 63: Bare Act Text Side by Side

IEA 1872 (repealed)

Section 65B, IEA 1872

65B. Admissibility of electronic records.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, any information contained in an electronic record which is printed on a paper, stored, recorded or copied in optical or magnetic media produced by a computer (hereinafter referred to as the computer output) shall be deemed to be also a document, if the conditions mentioned in this section are satisfied in relation to the information and computer in question and shall be admissible in any proceedings, without further proof or production of the original, as evidence or any contents of the original or of any fact stated therein of which direct evidence would be admissible. (2) The conditions referred to in sub-section (1) in respect of a computer output shall be the following, namely:— (a) the computer output containing the information was produced by the computer during the period over which the computer was used regularly to store or process information for the purposes of any activities regularly carried on over that period by the person having lawful control over the use of the computer; (b) during the said period, information of the kind contained in the electronic record or of the kind from which the information so contained is derived was regularly fed into the computer in the ordinary course of the said activities; (c) throughout the material part of the said period, the computer was operating properly or, if not, then in respect of any period in which it was not operating properly or was out of operation during that part of the period, was not such as to affect the electronic record or the accuracy of its contents; and (d) the information contained in the electronic record reproduces or is derived from such information fed into the computer in the ordinary course of the said activities. (3) Where over any period, the function of storing or processing information for the purposes of any activities regularly carried on over that period as mentioned in clause (a) of sub-section (2) was regularly performed by computers, whether— (a) by a combination of computers operating over that period; or (b) by different computers operating in succession over that period; or (c) by different combinations of computers operating in succession over that period; or (d) in any other manner involving the successive operation over that period, in whatever order, of one or more computers and one or more combinations of computers, all the computers used for that purpose during that period shall be treated for the purposes of this section as constituting a single computer; and references in this section to a computer shall be construed accordingly. (4) In any proceedings where it is desired to give a statement in evidence by virtue of this section, a certificate doing any of the following things, that is to say,— (a) identifying the electronic record containing the statement and describing the manner in which it was produced; (b) giving such particulars of any device involved in the production of that electronic record as may be appropriate for the purpose of showing that the electronic record was produced by a computer; (c) dealing with any of the matters to which the conditions mentioned in sub-section (2) relate, and purporting to be signed by a person occupying a responsible official position in relation to the operation of the relevant device or the management of the relevant activities (whichever is appropriate) shall be evidence of any matter stated in the certificate; and for the purposes of this sub-section it shall be sufficient for a matter to be stated to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person stating it. (5) For the purposes of this section,— (a) information shall be taken to be supplied to a computer if it is supplied thereto in any appropriate form and whether it is so supplied directly or (with or without human intervention) by means of any appropriate equipment; (b) whether in the course of activities carried on by any official, information is supplied with a view to its being stored or processed for the purposes of those activities by a computer operated otherwise than in the course of those activities, that information, if duly supplied to that computer, shall be taken to be supplied to it in the course of those activities; (c) a computer output shall be taken to have been produced by a computer whether it was produced by it directly or (with or without human intervention) by means of any appropriate equipment. Explanation.—For the purposes of this section any reference to information being derived from other information shall be a reference to its being derived therefrom by calculation, comparison or any other process.

BSA 2023 (in force)

Section 63, BSA 2023

63. Admissibility of electronic records.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Adhiniyam, any information contained in an electronic record which is printed on paper, stored, recorded or copied in optical or magnetic media or semiconductor memory which is produced by a computer or any communication device or otherwise stored, recorded or copied in any electronic form (hereinafter referred to as the computer output) shall be deemed to be also a document, if the conditions mentioned in this section are satisfied in relation to the information and computer in question and shall be admissible in any proceedings, without further proof or production of the original, as evidence or any contents of the original or of any fact stated therein of which direct evidence would be admissible. (2) The conditions referred to in sub-section (1) in respect of a computer output shall be the following, namely:— (a) the computer output containing the information was produced by the computer or communication device during the period over which the computer or Communication device was used regularly to create, store or process information for the purposes of any activity regularly carried on over that period by the person having lawful control over the use of the computer or communication device; (b) during the said period, information of the kind contained in the electronic record or of the kind from which the information so contained is derived was regularly fed into the computer or Communication device in the ordinary course of the said activities; (c) throughout the material part of the said period, the computer or communication device was operating properly or, if not, then in respect of any period in which it was not operating properly or was out of operation during that part of the period, was not such as to affect the electronic record or the accuracy of its contents; and (d) the information contained in the electronic record reproduces or is derived from such information fed into the computer or Communication device in the ordinary course of the said activities. (3) Where over any period, the function of creating, storing or processing information for the purposes of any activity regularly carried on over that period as mentioned in clause (a) of sub-section (2) was regularly performed by means of one or more computers or communication device, whether— (a) in standalone mode; or (b) on a computer system; or (c) on a computer network; or (d) on a computer resource enabling information creation or providing information processing and storage; or (e) through an intermediary, all the computers or communication devices used for that purpose during that period shall be treated for the purposes of this section as constituting a single computer or communication device; and references in this section to a computer or communication device shall be construed accordingly. (4) In any proceeding where it is desired to give a statement in evidence by virtue of this section, a certificate doing any of the following things shall be submitted along with the electronic record at each instance where it is being submitted for admission, namely:— (a) identifying the electronic record containing the statement and describing the manner in which it was produced; (b) giving such particulars of any device involved in the production of that electronic record as may be appropriate for the purpose of showing that the electronic record was produced by a computer or a communication device referred to in clauses (a) to (e) of sub-section (3); (c) dealing with any of the matters to which the conditions mentioned in sub-section (2) relate, and purporting to be signed by a person in charge of the computer or communication device or the management of the relevant activities (whichever is appropriate) and an expert shall be evidence of any matter stated in the certificate; and for the purposes of this sub-section it shall be sufficient for a matter to be stated to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person stating it in the certificate specified in the Schedule. (5) For the purposes of this section,— (a) information shall be taken to be supplied to a computer or communication device if it is supplied thereto in any appropriate form and whether it is so supplied directly or (with or without human intervention) by means of any appropriate equipment; (b) a computer output shall be taken to have been produced by a computer or communication device whether it was produced by it directly or (with or without human intervention) by means of any appropriate equipment or by other electronic means as referred to in clauses (a) to (e) of sub-section (3).

When It Applies: IEA 65B vs BSA 63

Under IEA 65B

A party in any court proceeding who wants to prove information from an electronic record using a paper printout or a copy on optical or magnetic media.
The computer was in regular use to store or process data for activities regularly carried on by the person in lawful control of it.
Data of that kind was fed into the computer regularly during those activities, and the computer worked properly or any fault did not affect the record.
A person in a responsible official position for the device operation or activity management signs a certificate identifying the record and device details.

Under BSA 63

A party in any court proceeding who wants to prove information from an electronic record printed on paper, kept on optical, magnetic, or semiconductor memory from a computer or communication device, or kept in any electronic form.
The computer or communication device was in regular use to create, store or process data for an activity regularly carried on by the person in lawful control of it, and data of that kind was fed into it regularly.
The computer or the communication device worked properly during the material period, or any period when it did not work properly did not affect the record or its accuracy.
At each instance the electronic record is submitted for admission, a certificate in the Schedule form is submitted with signatures from both the person in charge of that device or activity management and an expert.

What IEA 65B to BSA 63 Means in Practice

Section 65B IEA became Section 63 BSA on 1 July 2024, which expands coverage to semiconductor memory, communication devices, and records kept in any electronic form, while rewriting sub-section (3) around standalone, system, network, resource, and intermediary use. A party filing an electronic record under Section 63 BSA must submit a certificate in the Schedule form at each instance of submission, signed by both the person in charge of that device or activity management and an expert instead of one person in a responsible official position. Section 63 BSA also omits the old sub-section (5)(b) rule on officials supplying data to outside computers and the old Explanation on derived information.

FAQs: IEA 65B to BSA 63

How did the certificate requirement change from Section 65B IEA to Section 63 BSA?▼

Section 65B(4) IEA required a certificate signed by a person in a responsible official position. Section 63(4) BSA requires the certificate to follow the form in the Schedule, be submitted at each instance, and be signed by both the person in charge of that device or activities and an expert.

What new types of devices and storage media does Section 63 BSA add compared to Section 65B IEA?▼

Beyond optical and magnetic media produced by a computer under Section 65B IEA, Section 63 BSA adds semiconductor memory, communication devices, and records kept in any electronic form. Section 63(3) BSA also replaces the old combinations list with standalone mode, computer systems, networks, computer resources, and intermediaries.

What parts of Section 65B IEA were left out of Section 63 BSA?▼

Section 63 BSA drops clause (5)(b) of Section 65B IEA, which covered official information supplied to a computer operated outside those official activities. It also drops the Explanation at the end of Section 65B IEA, which stated that derived information includes calculation or comparison.

IEA 65B to BSA 63: Admissibility of electronic records

IEA 65B to BSA 63 at a Glance

What Changed From IEA 65B to BSA 63?

IEA 65B vs BSA 63: Comparison Table

IEA 65B and BSA 63: Bare Act Text Side by Side

When It Applies: IEA 65B vs BSA 63

What IEA 65B to BSA 63 Means in Practice

FAQs: IEA 65B to BSA 63