Section 74 BSA 2023: Public and Private Documents
Updated: September 13, 2026
The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA) is the principal central law governing evidence in judicial proceedings in India. It came into force on July 1, 2024. Section 74 appears in Chapter V dealing with documentary evidence and specifically distinguishes public documents from private documents.
Text of Section 74 - Public and private documents
74. (1) The following documents are public documents:
(a) documents forming the acts, or records of the acts-
(i) of the sovereign authority;
(ii) of official bodies and tribunals; and
(iii) of public officers, legislative, judicial and executive of India or of a foreign country;
(b) public records kept in any State or Union territory of private documents.
(2) All other documents except the documents referred to in sub-section (1) are private.
What is a public document under Section 74?
A public document is one that falls within the categories expressly listed in Section 74(1). Broadly, these include documents recording acts of sovereign authorities, official bodies, tribunals and public officers exercising legislative, judicial or executive functions.
The provision also includes public records maintained by a State or Union territory even where the underlying document is itself a private document. In such a case, the public record maintained by the competent public authority is treated as a public document for evidentiary purposes.
Typical categories covered by Section 74
Depending on the facts and the law governing the particular record, examples may include official orders, judicial records, records of tribunals, legislative records, executive records and public registers or records lawfully maintained by public authorities.
What is a private document?
Section 74(2) uses a residual rule: every document that is not covered by Section 74(1) is a private document. Private documents commonly include agreements, letters, privately executed instruments and other records created by private persons, subject to the facts of each case.
Why the distinction between public and private documents matters
The classification is important because the BSA provides a special method for obtaining and proving public documents. The provisions immediately following Section 74 deal with certified copies and proof through such copies.
Under Section 75 BSA, a public officer having custody of a public document which a person has a right to inspect must, on demand and payment of the prescribed legal fee, provide a certified copy in accordance with the section. Under Section 76 BSA, such certified copies may be produced to prove the contents of the corresponding public documents.
Related provisions of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023
Section 74 should be read with the neighboring provisions governing proof and presumptions concerning documentary evidence:
Section 71 - Proof of document not required by law to be attested
Section 72 - Comparison of signature, writing or seal with others admitted or proved
Section 73 - Proof as to verification of digital signature
Section 75 - Certified copies of public documents
Section 76 - Proof of documents by production of certified copies
Section 77 - Proof of other official documents
Section 78 - Presumption as to genuineness of certified copies
Section 79 - Presumption as to documents produced as record of evidence, etc.
Section 80 - Presumption as to Gazettes, newspapers and other documents
Practical takeaway
When relying on a document in evidence, first determine whether it falls within Section 74(1). If it is a public document, the certified-copy provisions in Sections 75 and 76 may be relevant. If it does not fall within Section 74(1), it is a private document and must ordinarily be proved under the rules applicable to private documentary evidence.