E-EVIDENCING AND ITS ADMISSIBILITY

Abstract

Technology has captivated not just India but the whole world in the twenty-first century. The utilization of computers isn’t restricted to organizations yet accessible to each person at swipe of a finger. Information Technology has refined each and every human activity. In this time of digital world as the utilization of computers turned out to be better known, there was development in the field of technology. The advancement of Information Technology (IT) brought forth the internet wherein web gives equivalent occasions to all individuals to get to any data, information stockpiling, examine and so on with the utilization of high technology.

This ever-growing reliance on electronic methods for communication, internet commerce, and data storage in computerized structures has unquestionably necessitated a reform in the law governing information technology and the laws governing the admissibility of electronic evidence in all cases in India. The proliferation of computers and the effect of information technologies on society as a whole, as well as the ability to store and collect data in advanced structures, have all necessitated reforms in Indian law to integrate the arrangements on electronic proof evaluation. The Information Technology Act, 2000 and its revision depend on the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) model Law on Electronic Commerce. The Information Technology (IT) Act 2000 was amended to consider the admissibility of electronic evidence. Amendments to the Indian Evidence Act 1872, the Indian Penal Code 1860 and the Banker’s Book Evidence Act 1891 empower the legislative framework to transact in electronic world. 

With the amendment in law, Indian courts have established case law on the use of electronic evidence. Judges have also demonstrated an understanding of the inherent "electronic" existence of evidence, which includes knowledge of the admissibility of such proof and the translation of the law corresponding to how electronic proof can be brought and registered before a court. Digital proof or electronic proof is any probative data stored or communicated in computerized structure that party to a legal dispute may use at court trial. Prior to accepting any evidence, it is indispensable that the assurance of its authenticity, veracity and relevance be discovered by the court and to set up if the fact is hearsay or a duplicate is preferred to the original. Computerized Evidence is “data of probative worth that is stored or communicated in binary structure”.