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Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — Section 104: Burden of proof

§ SECTION 104 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER VII — BURDEN OF PROOF

Burden of proof

The starting rule of proof. Whoever asks a court to act on facts he asserts must prove those facts. When a person is bound to prove a fact, the burden of proof is said to lie on him.

How to read Section 104

You assert the facts your claim rests on → you must prove them → that duty is the burden of proof.

The trigger

You ask a court for judgment on a legal right or liability that depends on facts you assert.

The rule

You must prove that those facts exist.

The name

When a person is bound to prove a fact, the burden of proof is said to lie on him.

The bare Act

The section in its own words — the rule and two illustrations.

Section 104 · verbatim

Whoever desires any Court to give judgment as to any legal right or liability dependent on the existence of facts which he asserts must prove that those facts exist, and when a person is bound to prove the existence of any fact, it is said that the burden of proof lies on that person.

Illustrations

(a) A desires a Court to give judgment that B shall be punished for a crime which A says B has committed. A must prove that B has committed the crime.

(b) A desires a Court to give judgment that he is entitled to certain land in the possession of B, by reason of facts which he asserts, and which B denies, to be true. A must prove the existence of those facts.

In short: a court acts on facts, and someone has to establish them. The rule is simple: the person who comes to the court wanting judgment on a right or liability — and whose case depends on certain facts being true — must prove those facts. That duty has a name: the burden of proof. It rests, to begin with, on the one who asserts and seeks the court’s order — not on his opponent to disprove, nor on the court to investigate. If the facts are left unproved, that party loses on them.

→ This carries forward IEA 1872 § 101 — the basic rule of the burden of proof; it opens Chapter VII.

Glossary

burden of proof

The duty to prove a fact — resting on the person who asserts it.

desires…judgment

Asks the court to decide in his favour.

legal right or liability

An entitlement or an obligation the court is asked to declare.

dependent on the existence of facts

The claim stands or falls on whether certain facts are true.

which he asserts

The facts he himself puts forward.

bound to prove

Required to establish the fact — or lose on it.

The picture

The one who asserts the facts and seeks judgment carries the duty to prove them.

A asserts the factshis claim rests ona right or liabilityA must PROVEthose facts existthen the court maygive judgmentif left unproved → the point failsburden of proof = the duty to prove, on the one who asserts

The section, part by part

Tap a part — the picture-story tells it first; the word-by-word text and example follow.

the ruleAssert the facts your claim rests on — and you must prove them

In one lineWhoever wants a court to give judgment on a right or liability that depends on facts he asserts must prove those facts — and that duty is called the burden of proof.
1you want judgmenton facts youassert2you MUST provethose factsexist3that duty =the burden ofproof, on youthe mover who asserts the facts carries the duty to prove them
Whoever desires any Court to give judgment as to any legal right or liability dependent on the existence of facts which he asserts must prove that those facts exist,who asserts + seeks judgment → must provethe person who wants judgment on a right or liability turning on facts he asserts must prove them.
and when a person is bound to prove the existence of any fact, it is said that the burden of proof lies on that person.→ that duty is named the burden of proofbeing bound to prove a fact is exactly what ‘the burden of proof lies on him’ means.
ExampleA sues B to recover a loan. The loan is the fact his claim depends on — so A must prove the loan was made; it is not for B to prove it was not.
✗ Not thisThe burden is not on the court to investigate, nor on the opponent to disprove first. It begins on the one who asserts the facts and asks for judgment.

the two illustrationsA crime · a land claim — in both, the mover must prove

In one lineTwo examples: A says B committed a crime — A must prove it; and A claims B’s land on asserted facts — A must prove those facts.
(a) crimeA says B committed it→ A must prove it(b) land claimA asserts facts B denies→ A must prove themcriminal or civil — the one who asserts and seeks judgment bears the burden
(a) A desires a Court to give judgment that B shall be punished for a crime which A says B has committed. A must prove that B has committed the crime.(a) crime → the accuser must prove itA wants B punished for a crime A alleges — so A must prove B committed it.
(b) A desires a Court to give judgment that he is entitled to certain land in the possession of B, by reason of facts which he asserts, and which B denies, to be true. A must prove the existence of those facts.(b) land claim → the claimant must prove the factsA claims B’s land on facts A asserts and B denies — so A must prove those facts.
ExampleIn both, the mover (A) carries the burden — the prosecution in the crime, the claimant in the land suit. B need not open by proving the opposite.
✗ Not thisB is not required to prove his innocence, or to disprove A’s facts, before A has proved anything. A, who asserts, must prove.

Connected provisions

principle

Who asserts, proves

The party who asserts the facts his claim depends on must prove them — not the party who denies.

§ 105 · next

On whom burden lies

The burden lies on the person who would fail if no evidence at all were given.

§ 53

Facts admitted

Facts admitted need not be proved — no burden arises as to them.

lineage

IEA 1872, § 101

Carried forward — the basic rule of the burden of proof.