§ SECTION 75 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER V — DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

Certified copies of public documents

The mechanism that makes § 74 work. A public officer must, on demand and on payment of fees, supply a copy of a public document you may inspect — with a “true copy” certificate, dated, signed and (if authorised) sealed. Such copies are certified copies.

How to read Section 75

Ask, pay, and receive a certified copy.

The right

A copy of a public document you may inspect, on demand and fees.

The certificate

“True copy”, dated, signed (name + title), sealed if authorised.

The name

Copies so certified are certified copies.

The bare Act

The section in its own words — the duty and the Explanation on custody.

Section 75 · verbatim

Every public officer having the custody of a public document, which any person has a right to inspect, shall give that person on demand a copy of it on payment of the legal fees therefor, together with a certificate written at the foot of such copy that it is a true copy of such document or part thereof, as the case may be, and such certificate shall be dated and subscribed by such officer with his name and his official title, and shall be sealed, whenever such officer is authorised by law to make use of a seal; and such copies so certified shall be called certified copies.

Explanation.—Any officer who, by the ordinary course of official duty, is authorised to deliver such copies, shall be deemed to have the custody of such documents within the meaning of this section.

In short: § 74 said public documents can be proved by certified copies — § 75 is how you get one and what one is. Any person with a right to inspect a public document may demand a copy; on paying the legal fees, the officer in custody must supply it, endorsed at the foot with a certificate that it is a true copy (of the whole or a part). That certificate must be dated, signed by the officer with his name and official title, and sealed where he is authorised to use a seal. Copies bearing this endorsement are “certified copies”. The Explanation widens “custody”: any officer who, in the ordinary course of duty, may deliver such copies is deemed to have custody.

→ This carries forward IEA 1872 § 76 — certified copies of public documents.

Glossary

certified copy

A copy bearing the officer’s “true copy” foot-certificate.

custody

Holding the document — widened by the Explanation to any officer authorised to deliver copies.

right to inspect

The pre-condition — you may demand a copy only of what you may inspect.

legal fees

The prescribed fee payable for the copy.

official title

The officer’s designation, subscribed on the certificate.

seal

Required on the certificate only where the officer may use one.

The picture

Demand → fees → a certified copy.

The section, part by part

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

The dutyCertificate + Explanation

the dutyA right to a certified copy, on demand

In one lineA public officer holding a public document anyone may inspect must, on demand and payment of fees, hand over a copy with a ‘true copy’ certificate — dated, signed with name and title, sealed if authorised. That is a certified copy.

Every public officer having the custody of a public document, which any person has a right to inspect, shall give that person on demand a copy of it on payment of the legal fees therefor,duty: give a copy on demand + feesevery public officer with custody of a public document anyone has a right to inspect must, on demand and payment of the legal fees, give a copy…

together with a certificate written at the foot of such copy that it is a true copy of such document or part thereof, as the case may be,+ a ‘TRUE COPY’ certificate at the foot…with a certificate at the foot stating it is a true copy of the document (or the relevant part)…

and such certificate shall be dated and subscribed by such officer with his name and his official title, and shall be sealed, whenever such officer is authorised by law to make use of a seal;dated, signed (name + title), sealed if authorised…the certificate must be dated and signed by the officer with his name and official title, and sealed if he is authorised to use a seal;

and such copies so certified shall be called certified copies.→ these are ‘certified copies’…and copies so certified are called certified copies.

ExampleYou seek the registered sale-deed on the sub-registrar’s record. On paying the fee, the officer gives you a copy with a certificate at its foot — “true copy” — dated, signed with his name and title, and sealed. That is a certified copy.

✗ Not thisThe right arises only where you may inspect the document, and only on paying the prescribed fee. A plain photocopy without the officer’s foot-certificate is not a certified copy.

the certificate + ExplanationWhat makes a copy ‘certified’ — and who has ‘custody’

In one lineA copy is certified by the officer’s foot-certificate (true copy, dated, signed with name and title, sealed if authorised). The Explanation treats an officer authorised to deliver copies as having custody.

the certificate at the footwhat makes it ‘certified’a note at the foot of the copy: “true copy”, dated, signed with the officer’s name and official title, and sealed if he may use a seal.

a copy of part is fine‘or part thereof’the certificate may certify the whole document or the relevant part.

Explanation.– Any officer who, by the ordinary course of official duty, is authorised to deliver such copies, shall be deemed to have the custody of such documents within the meaning of this section.‘custody’ = authorised to deliver copiesan officer who, in the ordinary course of duty, is authorised to deliver such copies is deemed to have custody of the documents for this section.

ExampleA record-room clerk who, in the ordinary course of duty, issues copies is treated as having custody — so his certified copies are valid, even though the register is formally held by a senior officer.

✗ Not thisThe certificate is not a formality to skip — missing the “true copy” note, the date, the signature/title, or (where required) the seal, and the copy is not a certified copy.

Connected provisions

§ 74

IEA 1872, § 76

Carried forward — certified copies of public documents.

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — Section 75: Certified copies of public documents