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Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — Section 30: Statements in maps, charts and plans

§ SECTION 30 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER II — RELEVANCY OF FACTS

Relevancy of statements in maps, charts and plans

A statement in a trusted map, chart or plan — one published for public sale or made under Government authority — is itself a relevant fact, as to the matters such maps usually show.

How to read Section 30

Trusted map + usual content = a relevant fact.

Which maps

Maps or charts published for public sale, or maps or plans made under Central/State Government authority.

Which content

Only the matters usually represented in such maps — rivers, roads, boundaries — not stray notes.

The result

Such a statement is itself a relevant fact — no need to prove it through the mapmaker.

The bare Act

The section in its own words — colour-keyed by what each phrase does.

Section 30 · verbatim

Statements of facts in issue or relevant facts, made in published maps or charts generally offered for public sale, or in maps or plans made under the authority of the Central Government or any State Government, as to matters usually represented or stated in such maps, charts or plans, are themselves relevant facts.

In short: a map that the public can buy, or that a Government made, carries a built-in reliability — so what it usually shows (a coastline, a river, a boundary) is evidence on its own. The section does not bless a private sketch, or an unusual note the map would not normally carry.

→ This carries forward IEA 1872 § 36 — the map-and-chart companion to the public-record rule in § 29.

Glossary

map · chart · plan

A graphic representation of geography or layout — a chart is typically for the sea/air, a plan for a defined site.

generally offered for public sale

Commercially published and sold to the public — the market check on its accuracy.

under the authority of Government

Made by or under the Central or a State Government — e.g. Survey of India.

matters usually represented

The things a map of that kind normally shows — only these are made relevant.

itself a relevant fact

The statement stands as evidence without calling the mapmaker to prove it.

Survey of India

The national mapping agency — a classic example of a Government-authority map under this section.

The picture

Two trusted sources, one map → a relevant fact.

published, for public saleunder Government authorityMAP / CHART / PLANmatters usually shownitself a RELEVANT FACTonly as to matters such maps usually showa private margin-note or an unusual matter is not covered

The section, part by part

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

the ruleWhen a map is evidence on its own

In one lineA statement in a trusted map, chart or plan — one sold to the public or made under Government authority — is itself a relevant fact, as to the matters such maps usually show.
1A trusted mappublished for sale, ormade by Government2Shows the usual thingsrivers, roads,boundaries, coasts3→ itself relevantthe map speaks foritself on that pointa reliable map speaks for itself — on what such maps normally show
Statements of facts in issue or relevant facts,what · statements of factstatements about a fact in issue or a relevant fact…
made in published maps or charts generally offered for public sale,source 1 · public-sale maps…appearing in published maps or charts generally sold to the public…
or in maps or plans made under the authority of the Central Government or any State Government,source 2 · government maps/plans…or in maps or plans made under Central or State Government authority…
as to matters usually represented or stated in such maps, charts or plans,⚠ only the usual content…but only as to the matters those maps usually show — not stray notes.
are themselves relevant facts.→ relevant…are themselves relevant facts.
ExampleIn a boundary dispute, a Survey of India map (Government authority) showing a river’s course, or a published Admiralty chart sold to mariners showing a shoal, is itself a relevant fact on that geography — no need to call the cartographer.
✗ Not thisOnly the map’s usual content counts — a river, a road, a coastline. A private note scribbled in the margin, or a matter maps do not normally show, is not made relevant by this section. And the map must be publicly sold or Government-authorised — a one-off private sketch is not.

the two sourcesWhich maps the law trusts

In one lineTwo kinds of map are trusted here — published maps sold to the public, and maps or plans made under Government authority.
published for public saletrusted source→ itself relevant★under Government authorityPublished maps sold to the public, and maps or plans made under Government authority — both are relevant on what they usually show.
published maps or charts generally offered for public salesource 1 · public salecommercially published maps/charts sold to the public — their market reliability is the guard.
maps or plans made under the authority of the Central Government or any State Governmentsource 2 · governmentor maps/plans made under Central or State Government authority — official reliability.
ExampleA commercially published road atlas, and a State Government town plan — both are relevant on what they usually depict. A hand-drawn sketch a party made for the trial is neither.
✗ Not thisThe trust comes from the source and the usual content — not from any map. A map made specially for the litigation, or showing an unusual matter, does not qualify. Like § 29, reliability flows from a public or official guarantee.

Connected provisions

§ 29

Public records under duty

§ 29 trusts official records; § 30 trusts published and Government maps — the same reliability logic.

§ 11

Right or custom

Maps often settle boundaries, public ways and customs — the very matters § 11 makes relevant.

§ 31 · next

Fact of public nature in Acts or notifications

The next provision in Chapter II.

lineage

IEA 1872, § 36

Carried forward — statements in trusted maps, charts and plans are relevant facts.