The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

The BSA is the current general evidence framework governing relevance, proof and the treatment of evidence, including electronic records.

About this law

An Act to consolidate and provide for general rules and principles of evidence for fair trial.

Enacted

25 December 2023

Commenced

1 July 2024

Ceased / transition

Still current

Status

Current

Applicability

Effective from 1 July 2024, subject to the statutory text, commencement notification and transition rules.

Old and new law relationship

Instrument-level transitions are verified first. Section-to-section mappings are published separately because one old provision can split into several new provisions, or vice versa.

Preceded byfrom 1 July 2024

Evidence Act

The BSA commenced on 1 July 2024. The historic Evidence Act remains relevant where savings or transition provisions apply.

Choose your reading lens

Citizen

Start with plain-language rights, duties, common situations and safe next steps; then open the dated official text.

Lawyer

Use the effective-date version, amendments, commencement material, cross-references and primary authorities.

Law student

Study the structure, key concepts, legislative history, provision crosswalks and leading interpretations.

Researcher

Use source provenance, version history, machine-readable relations and change events for reproducible research.

Versions and source state

Current official source

Valid 1 July 2024 onward

Full text verified

Complete section text imported from India Code and hash-verified. Provision correspondence is sourced separately from NCRB Sankalan.

Change timeline

1 July 2024

BSA commenced

The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024 under S.O. 849(E).