Section 63: Admissibility of electronic records

Earlier law: Evidence Act section 65B (Admissibility of electronic records)

In plain words

Information in an electronic record that is printed, stored or copied on any electronic media, produced by a computer or communication device (a "computer output"), is treated as a document and is admissible as evidence without the original, if certain conditions are met.

The output was produced while the device was regularly used for an activity regularly carried on by the person lawfully controlling it.
Information of that kind was regularly fed in during that activity, and the output reproduces or comes from it.
The device was working properly, or any malfunction did not affect the record or its accuracy.
All devices used together for the purpose, standalone, on a network, through a resource or an intermediary, count as one.
A certificate identifying the record, describing how it was produced and the devices, and covering these conditions, signed by the person in charge and an expert, must be submitted each time the record is offered, in the form in the Schedule.

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.

Read the in-depth explanation, with key Supreme Court rulings ↓

Official text

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Adhiniyam, any information contained in an electronic record which is printed on paper, stored, recorded or copied in optical or magnetic media or semiconductor memory which is produced by a computer or any communication device or otherwise stored, recorded or copied in any electronic form (hereinafter referred to as the computer output) shall be deemed to be also a document, if the conditions mentioned in this section are satisfied in relation to the information and computer in question and shall be admissible in any proceedings, without further proof or production of the original, as evidence or any contents of the original or of any fact stated therein of which direct evidence would be admissible.

(2) The conditions referred to in sub-section (1) in respect of a computer output shall be the following, namely:—-

(a) the computer output containing the information was produced by the computer or communication device during the period over which the computer or Communication device was used regularly to create, store or process information for the purposes of any activity regularly carried on over that period by the person having lawful control over the use of the computer or communication device;

(b) during the said period, information of the kind contained in the electronic record or of the kind from which the information so contained is derived was regularly fed into the computer or Communication device in the ordinary course of the said activities;

(c) throughout the material part of the said period, the computer or communication device was operating properly or, if not, then in respect of any period in which it was not operating properly or was out of operation during that part of the period, was not such as to affect the electronic record or the accuracy of its contents; and

(d) the information contained in the electronic record reproduces or is derived from such information fed into the computer or Communication device in the ordinary course of the said activities.

(3) Where over any period, the function of creating, storing or processing information for the purposes of any activity regularly carried on over that period as mentioned in clause (a) of sub-section (2) was regularly performed by means of one or more computers or communication device, whether—

(a) in standalone mode; or

(b) on a computer system; or

(c) on a computer network; or

(d) on a computer resource enabling information creation or providing information processing and storage; or

(e) through an intermediary,

all the computers or communication devices used for that purpose during that period shall be treated for the purposes of this section as constituting a single computer or communication device; and references in this section to a computer or communication device shall be construed accordingly.

(4) In any proceeding where it is desired to give a statement in evidence by virtue of this section, a certificate doing any of the following things shall be submitted along with the electronic record at each instance where it is being submitted for admission, namely:—

(a) identifying the electronic record containing the statement and describing the manner in which it was produced;

(b) giving such particulars of any device involved in the production of that electronic record as may be appropriate for the purpose of showing that the electronic record was produced by a computer or a communication device referred to in clauses (a) to (e) of sub-section (3);

(c) dealing with any of the matters to which the conditions mentioned in sub-section (2) relate,

and purporting to be signed by a person in charge of the computer or communication device or the management of the relevant activities (whichever is appropriate) and an expert shall be evidence of any matter stated in the certificate; and for the purposes of this sub-section it shall be sufficient for a matter to be stated to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person stating it in the certificate specified in the Schedule.

(5) For the purposes of this section,—-

(a) information shall be taken to be supplied to a computer or communication device if it is supplied thereto in any appropriate form and whether it is so supplied directly or (with or without human intervention) by means of any appropriate equipment;

(b) a computer output shall be taken to have been produced by a computer or communication device whether it was produced by it directly or (with or without human intervention) by means of any appropriate equipment or by other electronic means as referred to in clauses (a) to (e) of sub-section (3).

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.

Understanding this section

Section 63 replaces section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act on electronic records. It keeps the structure, a computer output is treated as a document if conditions are met and a certificate is given, but widens the definition to communication devices and other electronic storage, and changes who must sign the certificate.

What changed from section 65B

Covers outputs from computers and communication devices, including semiconductor memory, not just computers.
The certificate must be submitted along with the electronic record each time it is offered in evidence.
The certificate, in the form in the Schedule, is signed by the person in charge of the device or the relevant activities and by an expert.

The certificate is still essential for copies

The Supreme Court's ruling that a certificate is a condition of admissibility for copies of electronic records, and that oral evidence cannot replace it, applies with equal force. Where the original device is produced and proved, a certificate is not required.

Key Supreme Court rulings

Arjun Panditrao Khotkar v. Kailash Kushanrao Gorantyal 2020 INSC 453

Decided under section 65B of the Evidence Act. The certificate is a sine qua non for admitting electronic records; oral evidence cannot replace it; it is unnecessary when the original is produced.
Anvar P.V. v. P.K. Basheer 2014 INSC 645

Electronic records as secondary evidence are inadmissible unless the statutory conditions and certificate are satisfied.

Common mistakes

Submitting a certificate signed only by the device owner; section 63 also requires an expert.
Producing printouts without a certificate.

Read with: Section 61 BSA, Section 65B Evidence Act

Prepared with AI assistance as a study aid. Every ruling listed was checked against the Supreme Court's own judgments on this site, and quoted words appear in those judgments; linked names open the full judgment. Read the judgments themselves before relying on them. Not legal advice.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 63

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