§ SECTION 31 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER II — RELEVANCY OF FACTS

Relevancy of a statement as to a fact of public nature in certain Acts or notifications

When a fact of a public nature is in question, a statement of it in a recital of a Central or State Act, or in a notification in the Official Gazette — print or electronic/digital — is a relevant fact.

How to read Section 31

A public fact, stated in an official source, is relevant.

The trigger

The Court must form an opinion on a fact of a public nature — a general, official matter, not a private one.

The sources

A recital in a Central/State Act, or a Gazette notification — including the electronic/digital e-Gazette.

The result

The statement of that public fact is itself a relevant fact.

The bare Act

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

Section 31 · verbatim

When the Court has to form an opinion as to the existence of any fact of a public nature, any statement of it, made in a recital contained in any Central Act or State Act or in a Central Government or State Government notification appearing in the respective Official Gazette or in any printed paper or in electronic or digital form purporting to be such Gazette, is a relevant fact.

In short: matters of public record — a commencement date, an area declared, a public appointment — can be proved by the Act that recites them or the Gazette that notifies them. A litigant need not lead separate evidence to establish such a public fact.

→ This carries forward IEA 1872 § 37 — updated to admit the electronic or digital Gazette.

Glossary

fact of a public nature

A matter of general, official concern — not a private fact between the parties.

recital

A preliminary statement in a statute reciting the facts or reasons behind it.

notification

A formal official announcement by Government, published in the Gazette.

Official Gazette

The Government’s public journal of record — Central or State — for laws and notifications.

electronic or digital form

The 2023 update — the e-Gazette, or a printed paper purporting to be the Gazette, counts equally.

is a relevant fact

The statement stands as evidence of the public fact — without separate proof.

The picture

A public fact, stated in an Act or the Gazette → a relevant fact.

The section, part by part

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

The rulePublic facts & sources

the rulePublic facts, proved by the statute-book

In one lineWhen a fact of a public nature is in question, a statement of it in a recital of an Act or a notification in the Official Gazette (print or electronic/digital) is itself a relevant fact.

When the Court has to form an opinion as to the existence of any fact of a public nature,the trigger · a fact of public naturewhen the Court must decide whether some public fact exists…

any statement of it, made in a recital contained in any Central Act or State Actsource 1 · a recital in an Act…any statement of it in a recital of a Central or State Act…

or in a Central Government or State Government notification appearing in the respective Official Gazettesource 2 · a Gazette notification…or in a Government notification in the Official Gazette…

or in any printed paper or in electronic or digital form purporting to be such Gazette,source 2b · incl. the e-Gazette…including a printed or electronic/digital copy purporting to be that Gazette…

is a relevant fact.→ relevant…is a relevant fact.

ExampleWhether an area was declared a municipality, or whether an Act came into force on a given date — a recital in the Act itself, or the notification in the Official Gazette (print or e-Gazette), is a relevant fact on that public matter.

✗ Not thisOnly a fact of a public nature is covered — a general, official matter, not a private fact between the parties. And the source must be an Act’s recital or a Gazette notification — a newspaper report of the same thing is not this section.

public facts & sourcesWhat counts, and where it comes from

In one lineFor a public fact, the law lets the statute-book and the Official Gazette (print or electronic) prove it.

fact of a public naturewhat qualifiesa matter of general, official concern — a commencement date, a declared area — not a private dispute-fact.

recital in an Act, or notification in the Official Gazettethe sourcesan Act’s recital or a Gazette notification — including a printed or digital e-Gazette copy.

ExampleThe date the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam came into force (1 July 2024) is a public fact; its commencement notification in the Gazette proves it. But whether A paid B — a private fact — is not touched by this section.

✗ Not thisThis is about public facts and official sources. A private fact, or the same news in a magazine or a website that is not the Gazette, is outside it. The 2023 text expressly admits the electronic/digital e-Gazette.

Connected provisions

§ 29

IEA 1872, § 37

Carried forward — now expressly admitting the electronic/digital Gazette.

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — Section 31: Statement as to a fact of public nature in Acts or notifications