Emergence And Evolution Of Digital Evidence And Examination Of Witnesses-A Comparative Study Of The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 And The Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

Written by: Dhara Verma, 4^th year of  BA.LL.B(Hons.), School Of Law, Lovely Professional

University

Abstract

Modern society's collection, evaluation, and presentation of evidence are subjected to rapid transformation owing partly to digitization, while the Countryside doesn't see much change on its own. The lndian Evidence Act of 1872, an instrument straight out of the colonial era, describes one that was imagined to operate in a pre-digital environment, where the two greatest forms of proof were oral testimony and physical documents. Thus, with the rise of the cyber world-that is, transactions and communications being carried out through means of digital the very shortcomings of this Act have slowly now been coming into the limelight. In the counterparts of the current reforms aimed at wholesale changes to Indian Law, the 2023 Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam seeks to infuse the evidentiary law with the modern spirit through explicit inclusion of digital evidence, simplification of the procedures for bringing it to court, and reformed ways of examination of witnesses. This paper does a comparative analysis of the two statutes, focusing on the life cycle of digital evidence and modes of witness examination. It addresses the legislative intent, judicial interpretation, and implementation challenges where it draws the inference that BSA 2023 is heralded as a landmark reform, but it would depend on how well the changes are accepted by the judiciary in terms of technology.

Keywords: Digital evidence , witness examination, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, Indian Evidence Act, admissibility, technology and law , procedural changes.

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