Private Document
Definition
Defined under BSA 2023 Section 75. All documents other than public documents (personal letters, agreements, diaries, cheques in the hands of a private holder).
- Governing provision
- BSA 2023 Section 75
- Definition
- Any document that is not a public document
- Examples
- Personal letters, agreements, diaries, private cheques
- Contrast
- Public documents are made by public officers or bodies
Common questions
How does classifying a document as private affect how it is proved in court?+
Private documents generally need to be proved by primary evidence, the original itself, or by calling a witness who can speak to its execution or authorship, whereas certified copies of public documents can often be admitted more easily under separate provisions.
Can a private document become admissible without the person who wrote it testifying?+
It can, in certain circumstances, such as through proof of handwriting or signature by another qualified witness, or through the electronic evidence certificate route for a digital private document, but the general rule still favours evidence from someone connected to its creation.
Related terms
- Document
- Any matter expressed or described upon any substance by means of letters, figures or marks intended to be used for the purpose...
- Electronic Record
- Data generated, sent, received, or stored by electronic means, including emails, call data records, server logs, database entries, CCTV footage, and documents...
- Negotiable Instrument
- Defined under the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881 Section 13. Promissory note, bill of exchange or cheque payable to order or bearer.
- Public Document
- Defined under BSA 2023 Section 74. Records of sovereign authority, official bodies and public officers of India or a foreign country; public...
- Questioned Document (QD)
- Any document whose authenticity, source, age, sequence of preparation or content is in dispute and requires examination by a forensic expert.
- Security Feature
- Engineered element of a document (watermark, security thread, microprinting, intaglio, optically variable ink, latent image, fluorescent fibres) that frustrates forgery and supports...
- Standard or Exemplar
- A document of known origin used for comparison with a questioned document. May be requested (taken under controlled conditions) or collected (from...
- Watermark
- A pattern formed in paper during manufacture by localised fibre-density variation on the Fourdrinier wire; visible in transmitted light as a lighter...