Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

Section 152 BSA: Question Not to Be Asked Without Reasonable Grounds

Updated: September 13, 2026

In brief: Section 152 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 restricts questions of the kind covered by Section 151 when the person asking the question has no reasonable grounds for believing that the imputation conveyed by it is well-founded. The provision protects witnesses from random or baseless attacks on character while preserving proper cross-examination supported by a reasonable factual basis.

What is Section 152 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023?

The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA) is the central law governing general rules and principles of evidence for fair trial. It came into force on July 1, 2024. Section 152 appears in Chapter X, dealing with examination of witnesses, and must be read together with Section 151.

Section 151 empowers the Court to decide whether certain questions affecting the credit of a witness should be asked and whether the witness should be compelled to answer. Section 152 adds an important safeguard: a question carrying an adverse imputation should not be asked unless there are reasonable grounds for believing that the imputation is well-founded.

Text of Section 152 BSA, 2023

152. Question not to be asked without reasonable grounds. No such question as is referred to in section 151 ought to be asked, unless the person asking it has reasonable grounds for thinking that the imputation which it conveys is well-founded.

Illustrations to Section 152

An advocate is instructed by another advocate that an important witness is a dacoit. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dacoit.
An advocate is informed by a person in Court that an important witness is a dacoit. The informant, on being questioned by the advocate, gives satisfactory reasons for his statement. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dacoit.
A witness, of whom nothing whatever is known, is asked at random whether he is a dacoit. There are here no reasonable grounds for the question.
A witness, of whom nothing whatever is known, being questioned as to his mode of life and means of living, gives unsatisfactory answers. This may be a reasonable ground for asking him if he is a dacoit.

Meaning of "reasonable grounds" under Section 152

The section does not permit a party or advocate to make a damaging suggestion merely on speculation. There should be some identifiable basis for the proposed imputation. The statutory illustrations show that reliable instructions or information supported by satisfactory reasons may provide such a basis, whereas a random accusation against a person about whom nothing is known does not.

How Section 152 works with Sections 151 and 153

Section 151: the Court decides whether a question relating to a matter not directly relevant to the proceeding, but affecting the witness's credit by injuring character, should be asked and whether the witness must answer.
Section 152: the person asking such a question must have reasonable grounds for believing the imputation is well-founded.
Section 153: deals with the procedure where the Court considers that a question was asked without reasonable grounds.

Practical effect: Section 152 does not bar legitimate cross-examination. It requires a reasonable foundation before questions containing serious imputations about a witness are put in Court.

Official source

For the authoritative statutory text and current Act details, refer to the official India Code record for the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.

India Code - Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023