Certified copies of public documents
Section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 deals with certified copies of public documents. Every public officer having the custody of a public document, which any person has a right to inspect, shall give that person on demand a copy of it on payment of the legal fees there for, together with a certificate written at the foot of such copy that it is a true copy of such document or part th 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 Repealed by section 170 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (47 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and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.
Every public officer having the custody of a public document, which any person has a right to inspect, shall give that person on demand a copy of it on payment of the legal fees there for, together with a certificate written at the foot of such copy that it is a true copy of such document or part thereof, as the case may be, and such certificate shall be dated and subscribed by such officer with his name and his official title, and shall be sealed, whenever such officer is authorized by law to make use of a seal; and such copies so certified shall be called certified copies.
Explanation. –– Any officer who, by the ordinary course of official duty, is authorized to deliver such copies, shall be deemed to have the custody of such documents within the meaning of this section.
Section 76, The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (Act 1 of 1872).
Now in the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam
BSA 75 Certified copies of public documents 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 The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force.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.
Referred to by 27
- Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act s. 46 Extract from the register maintained under section 43 to be furnished
- Birth and Death Act s. 17 Search of births and deaths register
- Companies Act s. 223 Inspector‘s report
- East Punjab (Exchange of Prisoners) Act s. 16
- Gujarat Land Revenue Code s. 10
- Gujarat Repatriated Prisoners Act s. 4
- Haryana Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act 2008(6 of 2008) s. 12
- Himachal Pradesh Registration of Marriages Act s. 15 Search of marriage registers
- Indian Stamp Dadra and NagarHaveli and Daman and Diu (Amendment) Act s. 23 Substitution of schedule IA in principal Act
- Karnataka Land Revenue Act s. 2 Definitions
- Maharashtra Land Revenue Code s. 2 Definitions
- Maharashtra Stamp Act s. 76 Repeal of enactments
and 15 more
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Jagdish Chandra vs C.b.i.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Hard discs on which intercepted telephone conversations have been recorded are electronic records and therefore documents within the meaning of Section 173(5)(a) read with Section 207(v) CrPC. The prosecution is obliged to furnish to the accused copies of only such documents that it proposes to rely upon as indicated in the charge sheet or of those already sent to the court during investigation. At the pre-charge stage, the trial court cannot direct the prosecution to furnish copies of documents other than those which it proposes to rely upon. However, where the charge sheet indicates that the prosecution is relying upon certain documents, the accused must be given access to those documents. In the instant case, the scope of the APFSL examination was to certify that the hard discs were properly functioning and that the calls copied on to the CDs were true copies of the original recordings in the hard discs. Only to this extent can it be said that the hard discs are being relied upon by the prosecution. The certification in terms of Section 65B(4) EA does not obviate the statutory requirement under Section 207(v) of providing to the accused access to the original recording of the relevant intercepted telephone conversation as a relied upon document. Therefore, the accused should be permitted to listen to the original recordings of the relevant intercepted telephonic conversations relied upon by the prosecution by having the said original recordings played directly from the hard discs in the presence of the accused or their representatives, their counsel and the learned Judge.
On this section: Public documents definition
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
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.
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… same also should be in the public domain to have the transparency in the working of the Criminal Justice System. 2.3 Shri Prashant Bhushan, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner has also vehemently submitted that the chargesheet is a public document once filed in the Court. Reliance is placed on Sections 74 and 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. It is submitted that even under Section 4(2) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as the 'RTI Act') a duty is cast upon the public officer/public authority to provide as much information suo moto to the public at regular intervals through various means …
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… The question as to whether the appellant is an aggrieved person or not does not arise in the context of the claim for a copy of the order. That is a matter to be considered by the Appellate Authority when the appeal is preferred under Sec.17 of the Act. C. Sections 74, 75 and 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 which are relevant are extracted below for ready reference. "74 Public documents The following documents are public documents:- (1) Documents forming the Acts or records of the Acts - (i) of the sovereign authority, (ii) of official bodies and tribunals and (iii) of …
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… admissible in evidence for the purpose of proving birth and death under Section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and as per Section 17 of the Tamil Nadu Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. Ex.B.19 is an extract of the birth certificate issued by the Municipality. This certainly comes under the purview of Section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 as the certified copy of public documents. When the certified copy of the 9/16 https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ birth extract is obtained from the proper authority, the Court has to necessarily presume that such copy is to be genuine as per Section 79 of the Indian …
Questions about Section 76
What have the courts held on Section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act?
Jagdish Chandra vs C.b.i. (11 Mar 2008) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Public documents definition.
How do I find court cases under Section 76 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 76, section 76 IEA, section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Jagdish Chandra vs C.b.i. (11 Mar 2008).
What should I read with Section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, and has it changed?
27 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. For anything done on or after 1 July 2024 the provision to read is BSA 75 (Certified copies of public documents), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.
When did Section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act come into force?
Section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, cited as IEA 76, 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
- 32. Cases in which statement of relevant fact by person who is dead or cannot be found, etc., is relevant1207 words
- 14. Facts showing existence of state of mind, or of body of bodily feeling1080 words
- 92. Exclusion of evidence of oral agreement809 words
- 8. Motive, preparation and previous or subsequent conduct773 words
- 65B. Admissibility of electronic records743 words
- 3. Interpretation-clause667 words
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.