§ SECTION 71 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER V — DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

Proof of document not required by law to be attested

Attestation only raises the bar when the law demands it. A document that is attested but not required to be may be proved as if it were unattested — the § 67 attesting-witness rule falls away.

How to read Section 71

Optional witnesses, optional proof of them.

The situation

A document is attested — but the law did not require it.

The effect

Prove it as if unattested — no attesting witness needed.

The contrast

If attestation was required (§ 67), the witness rule stands.

The bare Act

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

Section 71 · verbatim

An attested document not required by law to be attested may be proved as if it was unattested.

In short: the strict attesting-witness regime (§§ 67–70) exists to protect documents that the law insists be attested — wills, mortgages and the like. Many other documents carry witnesses purely out of caution, though no statute demands it. For those, the attestation is legally irrelevant: § 71 lets you prove the document as if it were unattested, by the ordinary means — typically proof of the executant’s signature or handwriting (§ 65). You are not obliged to hunt down and call the volunteer witnesses.

→ This carries forward IEA 1872 § 72 — proof of a document not required by law to be attested.

Glossary

attested document

One that bears witnesses’ signatures — whether or not the law required them.

required by law to be attested

Documents (will, mortgage…) for which attestation is mandatory.

unattested

Without witnesses — proved by the signer’s hand alone.

proved as if unattested

The attestation is ignored — prove it the ordinary way (§ 65).

voluntary attestation

Witnesses added out of caution, not legal compulsion.

§ 67

The strict rule for required attestation — the contrast to § 71.

The picture

Two documents, both attested — only one needs a witness called.

The section, part by part

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

The ruleWhy it matters

the ruleAttestation you didn’t need, you can ignore

In one lineIf a document is attested but the law did not require attestation, you may prove it as if it were unattested — the strict attesting-witness rule does not apply.

An attested document not required by law to be attestedattested, but NOT required to bea document that happens to be attested but which the law does not require to be attested…

may be proved as if it was unattested.→ prove it as UNATTESTED…may be proved as if it were unattested — no attesting witness need be called.

ExampleAn ordinary sale agreement (which the law does not require to be attested) happens to carry two witnesses’ signatures. You need not call those witnesses — you prove the agreement as if unattested, e.g. by the executant’s signature (§ 65).

✗ Not this§ 71 applies only where attestation was not required by law. If the law does require it (a will, a mortgage), § 67 governs — you must call an attesting witness; this relief is not available.

why it mattersAttestation does not always raise the bar

In one lineThe strict rule bites only on legally required attestation. If attestation was optional, the extra witnesses are irrelevant to proof — you prove the document the ordinary way.

only mandatory attestation triggers § 67the strict rule is for REQUIRED attestation§ 67’s attesting-witness rule applies only to documents the law requires to be attested.

voluntary attestation does not bind youextra witnesses do not have to be calledwitnesses added to an ordinary document you were free not to attest need not be called.

prove it the ordinary wayvia § 65you prove it as any unattested document — by signature / handwriting under § 65.

ExampleA rent receipt or a plain contract signed before witnesses is proved by the signer’s hand — the onlookers’ signatures neither help nor need to be proved.

✗ Not thisDo not read this as downgrading required attestation. Where the law demands attestation, the presence of witnesses is essential and § 67–70 apply in full.

Connected provisions

§ 67

IEA 1872, § 72

Carried forward — proof of a document not required to be attested.

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — Section 71: Proof of document not required by law to be attested