Section 75 BSA 2023: Certified Copies of Public Documents

Section 75 - Certified copies of public documents

Meaning of Section 75 in simple terms

Section 75 creates a statutory mechanism for obtaining an authenticated copy of a public document. Where a person has a legal right to inspect the public document, the public officer having custody of it must, on demand and on payment of the prescribed legal fee, issue a copy carrying the certification required by the section.

The section is concerned with the authenticity of the copy supplied by the competent public office. It should be read with Section 74, which identifies public and private documents; Section 76, which permits proof of public documents through certified copies; and Section 78, which deals with the presumption as to genuineness of certified copies.

Requirements for a valid certified copy under Section 75

A certified copy contemplated by Section 75 should satisfy the following statutory elements:

• The original must be a public document.
• The issuing officer must have custody of the public document, including deemed custody under the Explanation.
• The applicant must have a legal right to inspect the document.
• The copy must be supplied on demand and after payment of the applicable legal fee.
• The certificate must state that the copy is a true copy of the document or the relevant part of it.
• The certificate must be dated.
• The officer must subscribe the certificate with his or her name and official title.
• An official seal must be affixed where the officer is authorised by law to use one.

What is a public document under the BSA?

Section 74 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 classifies specified official records as public documents. Broadly, these include documents forming the acts or records of acts of sovereign authority, official bodies and tribunals, and public officers of legislative, judicial and executive bodies in India or a foreign country, as well as public records kept in a State or Union territory of private documents.

All other documents, except those falling within the statutory category of public documents, are treated as private documents under Section 74(2).

How certified copies are used as evidence

Section 75 explains how the certified copy is issued. The next provision, Section 76 BSA, provides that such certified copies may be produced to prove the contents of the public documents, or parts of public documents, of which they purport to be copies.

Section 78 BSA separately addresses the presumption as to genuineness of certified copies when the statutory conditions for the presumption are satisfied. Therefore, Sections 74, 75, 76 and 78 operate as connected provisions dealing with classification, certification, proof and evidentiary presumption.

Corresponding provision under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872

Section 75 BSA substantially carries forward the rule that appeared in Section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, which was also titled "Certified copies of public documents." The section number has changed in the BSA because the structure and numbering of the new evidence law are different.

Related Sections of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

• 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 74 - Public and private 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