§ SECTION 125 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER IX — OF WITNESSES

Witness unable to communicate verbally

A witness unable to speak may give intelligible evidence by writing or signs in open court; it is treated as oral evidence. Where the witness cannot communicate verbally, interpreter or special-educator assistance and videography are mandatory. This safeguard was already in IEA section 119 after the 2013 amendment.

How to read Section 125

Competency, an intelligible mode of testimony and the mandatory recording safeguards are separate questions.

Mode

The witness may communicate intelligibly, for example through writing or signs.

Status

The writing/signs are made in open court and the evidence is deemed oral.

Safeguards carried forward

Where verbal communication is not possible, assistance and videography are mandatory under the proviso.

The bare Act

The section in its own words — the mode of testifying, and a mandatory proviso.

Section 125 · verbatim

A witness who is unable to speak may give his evidence in any other manner in which he can make it intelligible, as by writing or by signs; but such writing must be written and the signs made in open Court and evidence so given shall be deemed to be oral evidence:

Proviso.—Provided that if the witness is unable to communicate verbally, the Court shall take the assistance of an interpreter or a special educator in recording the statement, and such statement shall be videographed.

In short: The mode of communication does not exclude a competent witness. Writing must be written, and signs made, in open court; the evidence is deemed oral. The proviso requires interpreter or special-educator assistance and videography where the witness cannot communicate verbally. This is carried forward from the amended IEA, rather than first introduced by the BSA.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, section 27, substituted IEA section 119 with this safeguard.

Glossary

unable to speak

A witness who cannot give testimony by voice.

make it intelligible

Convey the evidence so it can be understood by the court.

by writing or by signs

The permitted alternative modes of giving evidence.

in open Court

Done publicly before the court — the writing written, the signs made, in the courtroom.

deemed to be oral evidence

Treated in law as oral evidence — so open to cross-examination like any oral testimony.

interpreter / special educator · videographed

Assistance in accurately recording the statement and a video record, required by the proviso and carried forward from amended IEA section 119.

The picture

Inability to speak changes only the mode — the evidence is given openly, treated as oral, and recorded with expert help.

The section, part by part

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

The modeThe BSA safeguard

the modeWriting or signs, in open court — and it counts as oral evidence

In one lineA witness who cannot speak may testify by writing or signs made in open court, in any way he can make intelligible — and it is deemed to be oral evidence.

A witness who is unable to speak may give his evidence in any other manner in which he can make it intelligible, as by writing or by signs;he may testify in any intelligible manner…writing or signs are examples — the test is only that the court can understand it.

but such writing must be written and the signs made in open Court and evidence so given shall be deemed to be oral evidence:→ but in open court, and it is oral evidencethe writing/signs must be done in open court, and the evidence is deemed oral — tested like any oral testimony.

ExampleA witness who cannot speak writes his answers on paper in the witness box, or gives them by signs. The court reads/records them; they are treated as oral evidence and the other side may cross-examine in the same way.

✗ Not thisThis is not a private or written-affidavit route. The writing must be written, and the signs made, in open court — and the evidence is oral, not documentary, so it is fully open to cross-examination.

the safeguardThe BSA proviso: interpreter / special educator, and videography — mandatory

In one lineWhere the witness cannot communicate verbally, the court shall take the help of an interpreter or special educator to record the statement, and that statement shall be videographed.

Provided that if the witness is unable to communicate verbally, the Court shall take the assistance of an interpreter or a special educator in recording the statement, and such statement shall be videographed.MeaningThe court must use an interpreter or special educator and videograph the statement. This safeguard was present in amended IEA section 119.

ExampleA witness with a speech-and-hearing disability testifies with a special educator who conveys the questions and records the answers; the whole statement is video-recorded, giving an accurate, reviewable record.

Reading boundaryThe assistance and videography requirements are mandatory. They were introduced into IEA section 119 by the 2013 amendment and are carried forward here.

Connected provisions

§ 124 · back

Who may testify

Competency — a person unable to speak is competent; § 125 is how he gives evidence.

§ 126 · next

Husband & wife as witnesses

Parties to a suit, and the husband or wife of a party or of an accused, are competent witnesses.

Chapter IX

Of Witnesses

Who may give evidence, and how — see the chapter map.

lineage

IEA 1872, § 119, as amended in 2013

The interpreter/special-educator and videography proviso already formed part of the former Act after the 2013 amendment.

Sources and reading note

Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, section 27 substituted IEA section 119. Compare BSA section 125. Do not describe an existing safeguard as a new BSA innovation.

Explanatory corrections reviewed on 24 September 2026. Statutory quotation and commentary are kept separate.