ORAL EVIDENCE

 Section 59 and 60 of the Indian Evidence Act deals with oral evidence.

 It has been defined under section 3 of the act as “All statements which the court permits or requires
to be made before it by witnesses, in relation to matters of fact under inquiry, such statements are
called as oral evidence.”

 The term oral is itself explanatory that includes anything spoken or expressed by mouth.

Section 59 – Proof of facts by oral evidence. —‖All facts, except the [contents of documents or
electronic records], may be proved by oral evidence.‖
 This includes persons who are unable to speak also.
 Evidence given by them in writing or through signs, they come under the ambit of oral evidence.
 “Section 59 of the said Act enacts that all facts, except the “contents” of documents, may be proved
by oral evidence.
 This provision would clearly indicate that to prove the contents of a document by means of oral
evidence would be a violation of that section.”

Section 60 – ―Oral evidence must be direct. —Oral evidence must, in all cases whatever, be direct.‖
 The main ingredients of the above section are „direct‟ and „must‟.
 Oral evidence at any stage cannot be indirect, that is, hearsay.
 It is not second-hand evidence.
 There are four important principles of this section.
 Until and unless they are not proved, the evidence would not come under the ambit of oral evidence.
1. If it refers to a fact which could be seen, it must be the evidence of a witness who says he saw it:
 This clearly means that only such evidence will be considered oral,
 whose testimony is given by the person who actually saw the matter by their own eyes.
 Example- If A saw that B pushed C off the terrace deliberately, only this would tantamount to direct
evidence.

2. If it refers to a fact which could be heard, it must be the evidence of a witness who says he
heard it:
 This refers to evidence, in which the matter is heard by the person testifying so.
 Example- If A overheard B and C‟s conversation of planning to shoot D, then A‟s testimony would
be considered.

3. If it refers to a fact which could be perceived by any other sense or in any other manner, it
must be the evidence of a witness who says he perceived it by that sense or in that manner:
 This means if a person perceives something by any manner or his senses of the crime.
 For example, A perceives that B is going to kill C, his wife, by noticing B‟s behaviour, touch or
nervousness.

4. If it refers to an opinion or to the grounds on which that opinion is held, it must be the evidence
of the person who holds that opinion on those grounds:
 It means in simpler terms that if a person has an opinion on an incident, it should be solely his
opinion based on some grounds then only his testimony will be considered.
 For example, If A thinks C is a wicked person and responsible for the incident, then C‟s personal
opinion shall be considered on those grounds.
 DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

 Chapter 5 of the Indian Evidence Act deals with documentary evidence.

 Section 61 to 90A fall under this chapter.

 section 61-66 of the act gives answers to the questions that how the contents of a document are to be
proved.

 Vox Audita Perit, Littera Scripta Manet is an Ancient roman proverb. The Which means the Spoken
Word Vanishes, the Written Word Remains.

 The law of evidence recognizes the superior credibility of the documentary evidence as against of
oral evidence.

 As per section 3 of the Indian Evidence Act, „all documents produced for the inspection of the
court; such documents are called documentary evidence.‟

 Section 3 of evidence provides that documentary evidence means all documents including electronic
records produced for the inspection of the court.

Documents are of two kinds:

1. Public Documents (section74);

2. Private Documents (section 75).

Section 61 : the contents of documents may be proved either:

1. by primary evidence, i.e. by producing the document itself (Section 62) or

2. by secondary evidence (Section 63).
 A document which is proved to be genuine and satisfies the requirements of law should only be
relied upon.
 “A man may lie but a document will never lie.”

Section 62: Primary evidence:

 means the document itself produced for the inspection of the court.
 Example- A person is found to be in possession of a number of maps, all printed at one time from
one original. Any one of the maps is primary evidence of the contents of any other but no one of
them is primary evidence of the contents of the original map.

―Section 61 of Evidence Act lays down that contents of any document may be proved by primary
evidence and section 62 of Evidence Act provides that primary evidence means the document itself
produced in court for inspection.‖
Section 63: Secondary evidence: means and includes:

1. Certified copies.
2. Copies made from the original by a mechanical process, ensuring the accuracy of the copy.
3. Copies made from and compared with the original.
4. Oral accounts of the contents of a document given by some person who has seen it.
Section 65:

 It contains cases in which secondary evidence relating to documents may be given which ranges
from clauses (a-g).
 Whereas section 64 says documents are to be clearly proved by primary evidence only except for the
clauses mentioned in section 65.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORAL EVIDENCE AND DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

DOCUMENTARY
BASIS ORAL EVIDENCE
EVIDENCE

Documentary evidence that is

It is given by the witnesses in the court written evidence is submitted
MEANING
orally that is by mouth. in the court in form of hard
papers, documents.

It is given in section 3 of the

DEFINITION It is given in section 3 of the act.
act.

Written evidence ranges from

SCOPE It is included in section 59 and 60.
section 61-66 of the act.

It has to be given in direct form It is proved through primary

FORM
although few exceptions are there. and secondary evidences.

It is submitted orally, signs or by This is submitted in writing

SUBMISSION
gestures. also includes electronic form.