eCourtsIndia
IndiaCode Laws
Section44
The Indian Evidence Act, 1872

Fraud or collusion in obtaining judgment, or incompetency of Court, may be proved

Repealed From 01 Sep 1872 Act 1 of 1872 As on 16 Oct 2026

Act 1 of 1872 Ministry Law and Justice Enacted 15 Mar 1872 In force 01 Sep 1872

This provision is repealed. Repealed by section 170 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (47 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024. It is reproduced because conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.

Section 44 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 deals with fraud or collusion in obtaining judgment, or incompetency of Court, may be proved. Any party to a suit or other proceeding may show that any judgment, order or decree which is relevant under section 40, 41 or 42, and which has been proved by the adverse party, was delivered by a Court not competent to deliver it, or was obtained by fraud or collusion. The Act came into force on 01 Sep 1872. Repealed by section 170 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (47 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.

Any party to a suit or other proceeding may show that any judgment, order or decree which is relevant under section 40, 41 or 42, and which has been proved by the adverse party, was delivered by a Court not competent to deliver it, or was obtained by fraud or collusion. OPINIONS OF THIRD PERSONS WHEN RELEVANT

Section 44, The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (Act 1 of 1872).

Now in the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam

BSA 38 Fraud or collusion in obtaining judgment, or incompetency of Court, may be proved Text carried over almost unchanged 95%

Measured by comparing the text of the two provisions, not taken from an official correspondence table — there is no machine-readable one. See both texts side by side before relying on it.

Both regimes are live. The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force. We never redirect one to the other.

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

This section refers to

  1. s. 40 Previous judgments relevant to bar a second suit or trial
  2. s. 41 Relevancy of certain judgments in probate, etc., jurisdiction
  3. s. 42 Relevancy and effect of judgments, orders or decrees, other than those mentioned in relate to matters of a public nature relevant to the enquiry; but such judgments, orders or decrees are not conclusive proof of that which they state

Judgments citing this section

These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.

  1. District Court 13 Sep 2022 ODBO0C0001642017

    … F I N D I N G S 11. ISSUE NO. 8 This issue being pivotal as well as crux of the suit and as the other issues revolve around this issue, is taken up first for consideration and onwards marching. Before appriciation of pleadings and evidence on record, it would be pertinent to state that Section 44 of the Indian Evidence Act stipulates as follows:- " Any party to a suit or other proceeding may show that any judgment, order or decree which is relevant Under Sections 40 (previous judgments relevant to bar a second suit or trial), 41 (relevancy of certain judgments in probate, etc. jurisdiction) or 42 (relevancy …

    Read this order on eCourtsIndia

Questions about Section 44

What does Section 44 of the Indian Evidence Act deal with?

Section 44 of the Indian Evidence Act is headed "Fraud or collusion in obtaining judgment, or incompetency of Court, may be proved". Any party to a suit or other proceeding may show that any judgment, order or decree which is relevant under section 40, 41 or 42, and which has been proved by the adverse party, was delivered by a Court not competent to deliver it, or was obtained by fraud or collusion.

How do I find court cases under Section 44 of the Indian Evidence Act?

In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: IEA 44, section 44 IEA, section 44 of the Indian Evidence Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome.

What should I read with Section 44 of the Indian Evidence Act, and has it changed?

Its own text turns on section 40 (Previous judgments relevant to bar a second suit or trial), section 41 (Relevancy of certain judgments in probate, etc., jurisdiction), section 42 (Relevancy and effect of judgments, orders or decrees, other than those mentioned in relate to matters of a public nature relevant to the enquiry; but such judgments, orders or decrees are not conclusive proof of that which they state), so none of them can safely be read on its own. For anything done on or after 1 July 2024 the provision to read is BSA 38 (Fraud or collusion in obtaining judgment, or incompetency of Court, may be proved), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.

When did Section 44 of the Indian Evidence Act come into force?

Section 44 of the Indian Evidence Act, cited as IEA 44, came into force on 01 Sep 1872, having been enacted on 15 Mar 1872. It is no longer in force.

Other sections of this Act

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Recovered from the consolidated text published by India Code (item e51341fa-7528-4327-9a57-5d194e16db6f). This page is not a substitute for legal advice.