§ SECTION 73 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER V — DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

Proof as to verification of digital signature

The comparison idea of § 72, for the digital world. To check whose a digital signature is, the Court may direct production of the Digital Signature Certificate and have its public key applied to verify the signature.

How to read Section 73

Fetch the certificate; apply the key.

The aim

To decide whose a digital signature is.

(a) Produce

The signer / Controller / CA produce the Digital Signature Certificate.

(b) Verify

Apply the public key in it to verify the signature.

The bare Act

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

Section 73 · verbatim

In order to ascertain whether a digital signature is that of the person by whom it purports to have been affixed, the Court may direct—

(a)that person or the Controller or the Certifying Authority to produce the Digital Signature Certificate;

(b)any other person to apply the public key listed in the Digital Signature Certificate and verify the digital signature purported to have been affixed by that person.

In short: where § 72 lets the Court compare handwriting, § 73 gives it the tools to test a digital signature. Two directions are available: (a) the signer, the Controller, or the Certifying Authority may be ordered to produce the Digital Signature Certificate (which contains the signer’s public key); and (b) any person may be directed to apply that public key to verify the signature. This mirrors public-key cryptography: a private key signs, and the matching public key confirms the signature came from it.

→ A digital-signature counterpart to § 72 — echoing the former § 73A and the electronic-signature framework.

Glossary

digital signature

A cryptographic authentication of a record using a key pair.

Digital Signature Certificate

A certificate (from a CA) holding the signer’s public key.

public key

The key that verifies a signature — freely shareable.

private key

The secret key that signs — held only by the signer.

Certifying Authority

The body that issues Digital Signature Certificates.

Controller

The authority that oversees the Certifying Authorities.

The picture

The certificate holds the key that proves the signer.

The section, part by part

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

The ruleHow it works

the ruleTwo directions to verify a digital signature

In one lineTo decide whose a digital signature is, the Court may direct (a) production of the Digital Signature Certificate and (b) that someone apply the public key in it to verify the signature.

In order to ascertain whether a digital signature is that of the person by whom it purports to have been affixed, the Court may direct—to check whose digital signature it isto check whose a digital signature really is, the Court may make one of two directions:

(a) that person or the Controller or the Certifying Authority to produce the Digital Signature Certificate;(a) produce the Digital Signature Certificateorder that person, the Controller, or the Certifying Authority to produce the Digital Signature Certificate.

(b) any other person to apply the public key listed in the Digital Signature Certificate and verify the digital signature purported to have been affixed by that person.(b) apply the public key & verifyorder any other person to apply the public key in that Certificate and verify the digital signature.

ExampleA contract bears a digital signature said to be the defendant’s. The Court may direct the Certifying Authority to produce his Digital Signature Certificate, and direct an expert to apply the public key in it to verify the signature.

✗ Not thisThis is a verification mechanism, not a presumption of genuineness. It tells the Court how to check whose signature it is — produce the certificate, apply the public key — not that the signature is automatically valid.

how it worksPublic-key verification, in one screen

In one lineA digital signature rests on a key pair: a private key signs, and the matching public key — listed in the DSC — verifies. § 73 lets the Court obtain the certificate and have the key applied.

the Digital Signature Certificateissued by a Certifying Authoritythe DSC is issued by a Certifying Authority and holds the signer’s public key.

private key signs, public key verifiesthe matching key pairthe signer signs with a private key; anyone can verify with the matching public key.

Controller & Certifying Authoritywho issues and overseesthe Certifying Authority issues DSCs; the Controller oversees the authorities.

ExampleAn expert takes the public key from the defendant’s DSC and runs it against the signed document; if it matches, the signature was made with the corresponding private key — his.

✗ Not thisA verified signature shows the record was signed with that key pair — it does not prove the contents are true, nor rule out misuse of a compromised private key. Verification is a strong start, not the whole story.

Connected provisions

§ 72

Former § 73A

Verification of digital signature — carried into the BSA.

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — Section 73: Proof as to verification of digital signature