Section 61

As life moved online, courts increasingly needed to deal with emails, WhatsApp chats, CCTV footage, computer printouts, and other digital material as evidence. Earlier laws under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (especially Section 65B) caused confusion about when electronic evidence was admissible, leading to years of conflicting judgments. The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 restates this principle clearly: electronic records are valid evidence like any paper document, but their reliability must still be certified as per Section 63 to prevent tampering or fabrication.

This provision echoes the reasoning in Anvar P.V. v. P.K. Basheer (2014) and later Arjun Panditrao Khotkar v. Kailash Kushanrao Gorantyal (2020), where the Supreme Court held that electronic evidence is admissible only when accompanied by a proper certificate (earlier under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act). These rulings clarified that while digital evidence is fully valid, its authenticity must be verifiable through a certification process, a principle now carried forward through Section 63 of the new Adhiniyam.

• Myth: Digital evidence like screenshots or emails can never be fully trusted in Indian courts.
  Fact: They can be trusted and used as evidence, as long as they meet the certification requirement under Section 63.
• Myth: This section makes all electronic evidence automatically admissible without any conditions.
  Fact: Admissibility is subject to compliance with Section 63, which requires proper certification for authenticity.