Welcome to LawTutorial.in – Your Partner in Understanding Law
Join Now

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — Section 91: Presumption as to due execution of documents not produced

§ SECTION 91 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER V — DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

Presumption as to due execution, etc., of documents not produced

Non-production carries a cost. Where a document is called for and, despite a notice to produce, is not produced, the Court shall presume it was attested, stamped and executed in the manner required by law.

How to read Section 91

A mandatory starting presumption remains open to rebuttal.

Trigger

The document was called for and was not produced after notice to produce.

Presumption

Due attestation, stamping and execution are presumed as required by law.

Limit

“Shall presume” is rebuttable. The truth of the contents and later use under section 167 are separate issues.

The bare Act

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

Section 91 · verbatim

The Court shall presume that every document, called for and not produced after notice to produce, was attested, stamped and executed in the manner required by law.

In short: When the statutory trigger is met, the Court shall presume due attestation, stamping and execution. Under section 2(1)(l), that means treating the fact as proved unless and until it is disproved. It does not make the document’s contents true, nor create an irrebuttable bar to all formal objections. Section 167 separately controls a withholding party’s later use of the document.

Correspondence: IEA section 89.

Glossary

called for

Formally demanded in the proceeding.

notice to produce

The demand under § 64 to bring the original.

not produced

The holder fails to bring it — the trigger for the presumption.

attested

Signed by witnesses as the law requires.

stamped

Bearing the required stamp duty.

executed in the manner required by law

Made with the formalities the law prescribes.

The picture

Notice and non-production trigger the presumption; “shall presume” does not mean conclusive proof.

Section 91: mandatory, but rebuttableSection 91: mandatory, but rebuttableTRIGGERDocument called for and notproduced after notice toproduce.PRESUMED FORMALITIESDue attestation, stamping andexecution as required by law.UNTIL DISPROVEDSection 2(1)(l) permitsrebuttal. Contents and lateruse remain separate issues.Read section 167 separately before a withholding party later seeks to use the document.

The section, part by part

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

the ruleWithhold it, and its regularity is presumed

In one lineWhere a document is called for but, despite a notice to produce, not produced, the Court shall presume it was attested, stamped and executed in the manner required by law.
Section 91: mandatory, but rebuttableSection 91: mandatory, but rebuttableTRIGGERDocument called for and notproduced after notice toproduce.PRESUMED FORMALITIESDue attestation, stamping andexecution as required by law.UNTIL DISPROVEDSection 2(1)(l) permitsrebuttal. Contents and lateruse remain separate issues.Read section 167 separately before a withholding party later seeks to use the document.
The Court shall presume that every document, called for and not produced after notice to produce,a doc withheld after noticethe Court shall presume that a document called for, and not produced despite a notice to produce…
was attested, stamped and executed in the manner required by law.→ presumed attested, stamped & executed properly…was attested, stamped and executed in the manner the law requires.
Teaching exampleAfter the opponent does not produce a deed called for on notice, the Court presumes the listed formalities were satisfied. The party disputing them must disprove that presumption with admissible evidence; merely alleging a defect is not enough.
Reading boundaryThe presumption is compulsory at the outset, but rebuttable under section 2(1)(l). It concerns formal regularity, not whether the document’s contents are true.

why it works this wayNon-production must not pay

In one lineNon-production after notice triggers a mandatory but rebuttable presumption of due attestation, stamping and execution.
Section 91: mandatory, but rebuttableSection 91: mandatory, but rebuttableTRIGGERDocument called for and notproduced after notice toproduce.PRESUMED FORMALITIESDue attestation, stamping andexecution as required by law.UNTIL DISPROVEDSection 2(1)(l) permitsrebuttal. Contents and lateruse remain separate issues.Read section 167 separately before a withholding party later seeks to use the document.
the triggernotice + non-productionthe document was called for and, despite a notice to produce, not produced.
presumed formally regularattested, stamped, executedit is presumed attested, stamped and executed as the law requires.
anti-withholdingMeaningThe presumption operates against a challenge to formal regularity until disproved. It is not conclusive proof.
Teaching exampleA party later seeks to use the original after refusing production on notice. Section 167 raises a separate consent-or-court-order question. Do not confuse that restriction with the rebuttable section 91 presumption.
✗ Not thisIt does not prove the document’s contents are true or favourable — only that its form was in order. The party relying on it still proves what it says by secondary evidence (§ 60(a)).

Connected provisions

§ 64

Notice to produce

The notice whose non-compliance triggers this presumption.

§ 60

Secondary evidence

Ground (a) — non-production lets in a copy; § 91 presumes its form.

§ 67

Attested documents

Attestation — here presumed against the withholder.

§ 92 · next

Thirty-year-old documents

The presumptions run continues — documents thirty years old.

Sources and reading note

BSA sections 2(1)(l), 91 and 167. Reasoning check: distinguish a rebuttable presumption from a restriction on later production.

Explanatory corrections reviewed on 24 September 2026. Statutory quotation and commentary are kept separate.