Section 55: Oral evidence to be direct

Earlier law: Evidence Act section 60 (Oral evidence must be direct)

In plain words

Oral evidence must always be direct: a fact that could be seen must be proved by a witness who saw it, heard by one who heard it, and so on, and an opinion by the person who holds it.

Expert opinions in treatises sold to the public can be proved by producing the treatise if the author is dead, cannot be found or cannot be called without unreasonable delay or expense.
If oral evidence concerns a material thing other than a document, the court can require the thing itself to be produced.

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

Oral evidence shall, in all cases whatever, be direct; if it refers to,—

(i) a fact which could be seen, it must be the evidence of a witness who says he saw it;

(ii) a fact which could be heard, it must be the evidence of a witness who says he heard it;

(iii) a fact which could be perceived by any other sense or in any other manner, it must be the evidence of a witness who says he perceived it by that sense or in that manner;

(iv) an opinion or to the grounds on which that opinion is held, it must be the evidence of the person who holds that opinion on those grounds:

Provided that the opinions of experts expressed in any treatise commonly offered for sale, and the grounds on which such opinions are held, may be proved by the production of such treatises if the author is dead or cannot be found, or has become incapable of giving evidence, or cannot be called as a witness without an amount of delay or expense which the Court regards as unreasonable:

Provided further that, if oral evidence refers to the existence or condition of any material thing other than a document, the Court may, if it thinks fit, require the production of such material thing for its inspection.

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 55

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