§ SECTION 43 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER II — RELEVANCY OF FACTS

Opinion as to usages, tenets, etc., when relevant

On three insider matters — a body’s or family’s usages and tenets, a religious or charitable foundation’s constitution, and the special meaning of local or trade words — the opinions of persons with special means of knowledge are relevant.

How to read Section 43

Three insider heads, one qualification.

The three heads

(i) usages & tenets of a body/family · (ii) a religious/charitable foundation’s constitution · (iii) local/class word-meanings.

Whose opinion

Persons with special means of knowledge of that point — insiders.

The result

Those opinions are relevant facts.

The bare Act

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

Section 43 · verbatim

When the Court has to form an opinion as to—

(i)the usages and tenets of any body of men or family;

(ii)the constitution and governance of any religious or charitable foundation; or

(iii)the meaning of words or terms used in particular districts or by particular classes of people,

the opinions of persons having special means of knowledge thereon, are relevant facts.

In short: some things can only be known from the inside — a community’s customs, a trust’s constitution, a trade’s private vocabulary. On these, the law lets a person with special means of knowledge give an opinion, and makes it relevant.

→ This carries forward IEA 1872 § 49 — opinion on usages, tenets, foundations and special word-meanings.

Glossary

usages and tenets

Customs (usages) and beliefs/doctrines (tenets) of a body of people or a family.

body of men

A group — a caste, sect, guild, or community — with its own ways.

religious or charitable foundation

An institution such as a temple, mosque, church or charity and its endowment.

constitution and governance

How the foundation is set up and run — who manages it, on what terms.

meaning of words in particular districts

The special/local sense of a word or term — not its ordinary dictionary meaning.

special means of knowledge

An insider’s access to the point — the qualification the opiner must have.

The picture

Three insider heads → the one who knows → relevant.

The section, part by part

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

The ruleThe three subjects

the ruleInsider knowledge, from those who have it

In one lineOn three insider matters — a body’s or family’s usages and tenets, a religious/charitable foundation’s constitution, and local or class word-meanings — the opinions of persons with special means of knowledge are relevant.

When the Court has to form an opinion as to—the triggerwhen the Court must form an opinion on one of three insider matters…

(i) the usages and tenets of any body of men or family;(i) usages & tenets…the customs and beliefs of a body of people or a family…

(ii) the constitution and governance of any religious or charitable foundation; or(ii) religious/charitable body…the constitution and governance of a religious or charitable foundation…

(iii) the meaning of words or terms used in particular districts or by particular classes of people,(iii) local / class word-meanings…or the meaning of words used in particular districts or by particular classes…

the opinions of persons having special means of knowledge thereon,who · special means of knowledge…the opinions of persons with special means of knowing them…

are relevant facts.→ relevant…are relevant facts.

Example(iii): a deed uses a trade term with a special local meaning. A merchant of that trade or district, with special means of knowledge, may opine on what the term means there.

✗ Not thisThe opiner must have special means of knowledge — an insider to the body, family, foundation, or district/class. A general § 39 expert, or a stranger without that specific connection, does not qualify. And it covers these three heads only.

the three subjectsWhat kinds of point this covers

In one lineThe three heads: (i) a body’s or family’s usages and tenets; (ii) a religious or charitable foundation’s constitution and governance; (iii) the special meaning of words in a district or class.

(i) the usages and tenets of any body of men or familya community’s customsthe ways and beliefs of a caste, sect, guild or family — e.g. a marriage or inheritance custom.

(ii) the constitution and governance of any religious or charitable foundationa trust’s frameworkhow a temple, mosque, church or charity is constituted and governed.

(iii) the meaning of words or terms used in particular districts or by particular classes of peoplelocal / trade languagea word that means something special in a district or to a trade — not its ordinary meaning.

Example(ii): who may be trustee of an old temple, or how its affairs are to be run, turns on the foundation’s constitution — on which those with special means of knowledge of that institution may opine.

✗ Not thisEach head is about specialised, insider knowledge — not ordinary matters the Court can judge for itself. For head (iii), it is the special/local meaning that is opened up, not the everyday meaning of the word.

Connected provisions

§ 42

IEA 1872, § 49

Carried forward — opinion on usages, tenets, foundations and word-meanings.

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — Section 43: Opinion as to usages, tenets, etc.