§ SECTION 81 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER V — DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

Presumption as to Gazettes in electronic or digital record

The electronic counterpart of § 80. The Court shall presume genuine an electronic or digital record purporting to be the Official Gazette, or a law-required record — provided it is in proper form and from proper custody.

How to read Section 81

The paper rule (§ 80), for pixels.

What

An e-record purporting to be the Official Gazette or a law-required record.

The condition

Proper form and proper custody.

Proper custody

Right server / keeper — or a legitimate / probable origin (also § 93).

The bare Act

The section in its own words — the presumption and the electronic proper-custody Explanation.

Section 81 · verbatim

The Court shall presume the genuineness of every electronic or digital record purporting to be the Official Gazette, or purporting to be electronic or digital record directed by any law to be kept by any person, if such electronic or digital record is kept substantially in the form required by law and is produced from proper custody.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section and section 93 electronic records are said to be in proper custody if they are in the place in which, and looked after by the person with whom such document is required to be kept; but no custody is improper if it is proved to have had a legitimate origin, or the circumstances of the particular case are such as to render that origin probable.

In short: a modern mirror of § 80. Where § 80 presumes the printed Gazette and required records genuine, § 81 does the same for their electronic or digital versions — the e-Gazette and any e-record the law requires someone to keep. The two conditions are identical: the record must be kept substantially in the required form and produced from proper custody. The Explanation supplies a matching definition of ‘proper custody’ for electronic records (and it also governs § 93, the electronic counterpart of the old-documents rule): the right place and keeper, but custody is not improper where a legitimate or probable origin is shown.

→ The electronic counterpart of § 80 (carrying forward IEA 1872 § 81 into the digital sphere; its Explanation pairs with § 93).

Glossary

electronic / digital record

Data recorded or stored in electronic form — here, the e-Gazette or e-records.

e-Gazette

The Official Gazette in electronic form — presumed genuine.

directed by law to be kept

An e-record a statute requires someone to maintain.

substantially in the form

Broadly in the prescribed shape — minor variance excused.

proper custody (e-records)

Right server / place and keeper — or a legitimate / probable origin.

§ 93

Shares this section’s electronic proper-custody definition (old e-records).

The picture

§ 80 for paper — § 81 for pixels.

The section, part by part

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

The ruleProper custody

the ruleThe digital Gazette is trusted too

In one lineThe Court shall presume genuine an electronic / digital record that purports to be the Official Gazette, or an e-record the law requires to be kept — if in the proper form and from proper custody. It is the electronic twin of § 80.

The Court shall presume the genuineness of every electronic or digital record purporting to be the Official Gazette,SHALL presume: the e-Gazette genuinethe Court shall presume genuine any electronic / digital record that purports to be the Official Gazette…

or purporting to be electronic or digital record directed by any law to be kept by any person,& e-records the law requires kept…or an electronic record the law requires some person to keep…

if such electronic or digital record is kept substantially in the form required by law and is produced from proper custody.IF proper form + proper custody…if it is kept substantially in the proper form and produced from proper custody.

ExampleThe Official Gazette on the Government’s e-Gazette portal, downloaded from that portal, is presumed genuine — no need to prove authenticity. So too a statutory electronic register produced from the office that maintains it.

✗ Not thisThe same two conditions apply — proper form and proper custody. A screenshot from a random website is not the e-Gazette produced from proper custody.

the Explanation‘Proper custody’ for electronic records

In one lineFor e-records, proper custody is the right place / server and the right keeper — but custody is not improper if a legitimate or probable origin is shown. (This definition also serves § 93.)

Explanation.– For the purposes of this section and section 93 electronic records are said to be in proper custody if they are in the place in which, and looked after by the person with whom such document is required to be kept;e-‘proper custody’ = right place & keeperelectronic records are in proper custody if in the right place, with the right keeper (as the law requires)…

but no custody is improper if it is proved to have had a legitimate origin, or the circumstances of the particular case are such as to render that origin probable.not improper if origin legitimate / probable…but custody is not improper if its origin is proved legitimate, or the circumstances make that origin probable.

ExampleA digitally-signed statutory return retrieved from the department’s own server is in proper custody — even if also mirrored on a backup drive — because its origin is legitimate.

✗ Not thisAs with paper (§ 80), electronic ‘proper custody’ is about authenticity, not a single fixed storage location. A legitimate or probable origin cures an unexpected source.

Connected provisions

§ 80

Gazettes & newspapers

The paper twin — § 81 applies the same rule to e-records.

§ 93

Old electronic records

Shares this section’s electronic proper custody definition.

§ 63

Electronic records

The admissibility regime these presumptions sit within.

§ 82 · next

Government maps & plans

The presumptions run continues.