Section 73 IEA / BSA 2023
Definition
The Indian Evidence Act 1872 provision (carried forward into the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023) empowering a court to direct any person to provide specimen handwriting for comparison; constitutional validity confirmed in State of Bombay v. Kathi Kalu Oghad (1961).
- Statute
- Indian Evidence Act 1872, s.73, and BSA 2023
- Power
- Court can direct specimen handwriting
- Key case
- State of Bombay v. Kathi Kalu Oghad, 1961
- Field
- Questioned document examination
Common questions
What did Kathi Kalu Oghad establish about compelled handwriting specimens?+
The Supreme Court held that directing an accused to provide handwriting or signature specimens for comparison does not violate protection against self-incrimination, because such specimens are identifying material rather than testimonial communication.
How does a court-ordered specimen differ from course-of-business writing samples?+
A Section 73 specimen is produced on the spot under judicial direction specifically for comparison, while course-of-business writings are pre-existing documents created for unrelated purposes, and examiners weigh both differently since request-writing can be disguised.
What precautions do examiners take with request-writings obtained under Section 73?+
They typically request multiple repetitions, vary dictation content and pace, and compare against natural course-of-business writing where available, since a person aware of the test may consciously or unconsciously alter their handwriting.
Related terms
- Character Inventory
- The pre-collection analysis of the questioned document to identify all letters, numerals, and special characters it contains, which then governs the comparable-text...
- Comparable Text
- The requirement that the exemplar set contains multiple repetitions of each letter, numeral, and character type that appears in the questioned document,...
- Contemporaneity
- The requirement that the exemplar set includes writings produced at approximately the same time as the questioned document, to avoid comparing writing...
- Course-of-Business Writings
- Handwriting exemplars collected from writings the subject produced in the normal course of their life, before the case arose, without knowledge that...
- Gilbert V. California (1967)
- US Supreme Court decision holding that compelled handwriting exemplars do not constitute testimonial self-incrimination protected by the Fifth Amendment, because handwriting is...
- Natural Variation
- The normal within-writer fluctuation in individual features across repetitions of the same letter or writing task; an examiner assesses whether questioned-writing variation...
- PACE 1984 s.61A
- The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 provision (inserted by the Criminal Justice Act 2003) allowing a UK constable to compel a...
- Request Writings
- Handwriting exemplars produced by the person of interest specifically for comparison purposes, under conditions controlled by the investigator or examiner; also called...
- Sufficient Quantity
- The requirement that the exemplar set contains enough repetitions of each significant individual characteristic to allow the examiner to establish the writer's...