A certified copy proves that everything written in the document is true.

It only proves that the document exists and says what it says (its contents); whether the facts stated in it are actually true may still need to be separately established, depending on the context.

Any photocopy of a government document counts as a 'certified copy' under this rule.

Only copies certified in the specific manner required by law (see the related certification provision) qualify—an ordinary photocopy without proper certification does not automatically have this evidentiary status.

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

Section 76

Proof of documents by production of certified copies

Such certified copies may be produced in proof of the contents of the public documents or parts of the public documents of which they purport to be copies.§

Why this exists

Public documents such as land records, birth/death registers, court judgments, and government orders are often kept in government custody and cannot easily be taken out or brought to every court proceeding. Requiring the original every time would be impractical and risky (originals could be lost or damaged). To balance reliability with convenience, the law allows certified copies—copies verified as true and correct by the custodian—to stand in for the original as proof of its contents. This provision continues a rule that existed under Section 77 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, carried forward into the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.

How courts read it

Under the earlier, identically worded Section 77 of the Evidence Act, 1872, courts consistently held that a certified copy is admissible to prove the contents of a public document without calling the original or its custodian as a witness, provided the copy is properly certified in accordance with the law (now Section 75 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, which prescribes how such certification must be done). Courts have clarified that this rule dispenses with the need to prove the document through primary evidence but does not automatically prove the truth of the facts stated within the document—only that the document exists and contains what it says.

Common misconceptions

Myth: A certified copy proves that everything written in the document is true.
Fact: It only proves that the document exists and says what it says (its contents); whether the facts stated in it are actually true may still need to be separately established, depending on the context.
Myth: Any photocopy of a government document counts as a 'certified copy' under this rule.
Fact: Only copies certified in the specific manner required by law (see the related certification provision) qualify—an ordinary photocopy without proper certification does not automatically have this evidentiary status.