Section 16: Admission by party to proceeding or his agent

Earlier law: Evidence Act section 18 (Admission)

In plain words

Statements by a party to the proceeding, or by an agent the court considers authorised by them, are admissions.

Statements by someone suing or sued in a representative capacity count only if made while they held that capacity.
Statements by people with a property or money interest in the subject matter, or by those from whom the parties got their interest, count if made while that interest continued.

A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.

Official text

(1) Statements made by a party to the proceeding, or by an agent to any such party, whom the Court regards, under the circumstances of the case, as expressly or impliedly authorised by him to make them, are admissions.

(2) Statements made by—

(i) parties to suits suing or sued in a representative character, are not admissions, unless they were made while the party making them held that character; or

(ii) (a) persons who have any proprietary or pecuniary interest in the subject matter of the proceeding, and who make the statement in their character of persons so interested; or

(b) persons from whom the parties to the suit have derived their interest in the subject matter of the suit,

are admissions, if they are made during the continuance of the interest of the persons making the statements

Corresponding sections were matched by comparing the wording of both official texts, and for the IPC and BNS, also against a published correspondence table. Wording, punishments and structure often changed, so read both sections before relying on the match.

Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 25 August 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 16

No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.