§ SECTION 82 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER V — DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

Presumption as to maps or plans made by authority of Government

Neutral surveys are trusted; partisan ones are not. The Court shall presume a map or plan made by Government authority was so made and is accurate — but a map made for a case must be proved accurate.

How to read Section 82

Who made the map decides whether it is trusted.

Official map

Made by Government authority — presumed so made and accurate.

Case map

Made for the litigation — must be proved accurate.

The idea

Trust the neutral; test the partisan.

The bare Act

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

Section 82 · verbatim

The Court shall presume that maps or plans purporting to be made by the authority of the Central Government or any State Government were so made, and are accurate; but maps or plans made for the purposes of any cause must be proved to be accurate.

In short: maps are only as reliable as their maker, so the law splits them in two. A map or plan that purports to be made by Central or State Government authority is presumed both to have been so made and to be accurate — the party relying on it need not prove the survey. But a map or plan prepared for the purposes of a case gets no such presumption: because it may be drawn to favour the side that commissioned it, its accuracy must be proved by evidence. Note the balance — the presumption for official maps is still rebuttable, and a case-map is not inadmissible, merely unproven until shown accurate.

→ This carries forward IEA 1872 § 83 — presumption as to maps or plans made by Government authority.

Glossary

map / plan

A scaled drawing of land or a place — e.g. a survey or site plan.

authority of Government

Made by or under the Central / State Government — the trigger for the presumption.

presumed accurate

Taken to be correct without proof — but rebuttable.

for the purposes of any cause

Prepared for the litigation — excluded from the presumption.

must be proved

Its accuracy has to be established by evidence.

shall presume

Mandatory but rebuttable — the standard presumption strength.

The picture

Two maps, two treatments.

The section, part by part

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

The ruleThe contrast

the ruleOfficial maps are trusted — case maps are not

In one lineThe Court shall presume a Government-authority map or plan was so made and is accurate — but a map or plan made for the case must be proved accurate.

The Court shall presume that maps or plans purporting to be made by the authority of the Central Government or any State Government were so made,Govt-authority maps → presumed so madethe Court shall presume that maps or plans purporting to be made by Central / State Government authority were so made…

and are accurate;& presumed ACCURATE…and that they are accurate;

but maps or plans made for the purposes of any cause must be proved to be accurate.BUT case-made maps → must be PROVED…but maps or plans made for a case must be proved to be accurate.

ExampleA Survey of India map, or a State revenue map, is presumed genuine and accurate — you need not prove the surveyor’s work. But a site plan a party commissions for the suit must be proved accurate (by the surveyor’s evidence).

✗ Not thisThe presumption is only for maps made by Government authority. A private map, however professional, does not get it — and a map made for the cause is expressly excluded.

the contrastWhy case-made maps get no presumption

In one lineTwo treatments: an official map is presumed accurate; a map made for the litigation is not — it must be proved, because it may be drawn to suit one side.

official maps → presumed accuratetrusted on their facea map made by Government authority is a neutral, official record — presumed accurate.

litigation maps → must be provedno presumptiona map made for the case earns no presumption — its accuracy must be established by evidence.

why the differenceneutrality vs self-interestan official survey is neutral; a party’s map may be self-serving, so the law makes them prove it.

ExampleIn a boundary dispute, the revenue survey map is accepted as accurate; but the plaintiff’s own demarcation plan, drawn for the suit, must be proved — typically by calling the person who prepared it.

✗ Not this‘Shall presume accurate’ is still rebuttable — the other side may show the official map is wrong; and ‘must be proved’ does not make a case-map inadmissible, only unproven until its accuracy is shown.

Connected provisions

§ 80

IEA 1872, § 83

Carried forward — presumption as to Government maps and plans.

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — Section 82: Presumption as to maps or plans made by authority of Government